Pumpkin & Silverbeet Spanakopita w/ Pine Nuts & Feta
Spanakopita is one of those dishes that gets even better with age! Luke’s brother Jay likes to take leftover spanakopita and re-invigorate it for breakfast by frying it in a deep frying pan until it crisps back up, then topping it with poached eggs and lots of chilli sauce - highly recommend!
Pumpkin & Silverbeet Spanakopita w/ Pine Nuts & Feta
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
900g pumpkin, cut into bite-sized cubes
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1kg silverbeet, very finely shredded
2 brown onions, finely diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
460g feta, crumbled
100g pine nuts
5 finely minced garlic cloves
10-12 sheets of frozen filo pastry
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil (to paint the pastry)
A pastry brush
Notes
1. You can include the stems of your silverbeet as well if you like, just make sure to chop them extra fine.
2. You don’t need to be too precise about your filo pastry layers - the most important thing is to not add way too many at the bottom (they can get stodgy) and to paint a thin but generous amount of oil onto both sides of each sheet (this makes it extra delicious!)
3. As you combine the filling ingredients, don’t worry if you have the odd big lump of feta in there - they’ll give you nice bursts of flavour every now and then if they’re not overly broken up.
Method
Toss the pumpkin with olive oil and salt. Spread it onto a baking tray and roast at 200˚C for 60-70 minutes, until cooked through and slightly caramelised.
While the pumpkin roasts, fry the shredded silverbeet in a deep frying pan over low heat. Fry until the silverbeet has totally wilted and its bright green colour has started to fade. Remove from the heat and squeeze out as much water as possible.
Combine silverbeet and pumpkin in a large bowl.
In the same frying pan you used for the silverbeet, fry the brown onion with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Fry until the onion is soft and golden brown.
Add the onion to the silverbeet and pumpkin along with the feta, pine nuts and garlic. Stir to combine.
Take a casserole dish about 30x20cm and (using a pastry brush) paint the bottom with a little olive oil. Paint your first sheet of filo pastry on both sides with olive oil, then fold it in half so that it fits neatly into the casserole dish. Repeat this process with another 2-3 sheets of filo pastry (you want about 6-8 layers of pastry on the bottom)
Spoon your filling into the casserole dish, then top with more filo pastry, repeating the painting and folding process you used for the bottom layer. You want about 10-12 layers of pastry on top of your spanakopita filling.
Brush the top sheet of filo pastry with a little more olive oil, then place in the oven at 180˚C and bake for 1 hour, or until the pastry on top is crisp and golden.
Serve with a lemony side salad (rocket, red onion, olive oil and lemon would be delicious).