SPINACH PIE

Introducing the vegetable of the day- English Spinach. I recently discovered another fresh food market- the Eagle Farm Markets at the end of Racecourse Rd, operating every Sunday from 7:30am until 1:30pm ( the link is below). This market features an eclectic mix of fresh food, seafood, meat, clothing, flower, deli, bread and trinket stalls. At this market you encounter rows of every type of olive you can imagine. Turn a corner and you will find several clothing stalls, with unique finds. You may even find a jumping castle! And the flower stall will blow your mind. I have never seen better priced or more vibrant flowers in all my years. I picked up some amazing spinach at these markets early last Sunday morning and knew exactly what I wanted to make with them- my own spinach pie.

http://www.eaglefarmmarkets.com.au/

Ingredients

• 2 generous bunches of english spinach 
• 500g low fat cottage cheese
• 1 teaspoon olive oil & 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, chopped finely 
• 4 spring onions, chopped finely 
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1 sheet reduced fat puff pastry, thawed 
• 1 large handful of parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• a generous pinch of ground pepper 

Cooking 

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. Lightly spray a cake loaf tin. (The measurements for the tin I used were 38cm length, 17cm width & 6cm depth). Wash & trim the spinach by removing the stalks. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to a large saucepan on medium heat. Place the spinach in the saucepan and cook, stirring, for around 2-3 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. Drain spinach and allow it to cool, then squeeze dry and roughly chop. 

2. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a small pan. Add the brown onion & spring onion and cook for a few minutes, until the onion is transparent. Place this mixture in a large bowl. Add the garlic, egg, cottage cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well. 

3. Place the pastry sheet in your pan. Allow the pastry to hang over the sides. Fill the pan with the spinach mixture. Fold the overhanging pastry over the mixture so that it meets in the middle. 

(Note- if you are using a pan similar to the pan I used the pastry will overlap perfectly. If the measurements of your pan are greater in diameter, you may need to cut the pastry to place one rectangular piece of pastry at the bottom of the pan and another piece of pastry on top of the mixture). 

4. Bake for around 35-40 minutes in the oven, or until pastry turns golden. 

x E