Silverbeet is just as good to use as spinach in this pie, as the flavors are very similar. This particular recipe has very few ingredients and could not be easier to make.
If you have never made a savoury pie, this is a good one to start with. It is also a great recipe to teach your older children to make when it is their turn to cook tea.
When they move out one day, it will be a dish they love making to show off, because it looks and tastes great.
Silverbeet and spinach are some of the easiest vegies to grow in the garden. If your family enjoys these pies, it’s worth putting a couple of plants in the garden or pots.
Pick the larger leaves, and let the smaller ones keep on growing. As we are all very aware, food is at a premium these days.
I always choose Danish Fetta as it is not quite as intense as Greek fetta. It is slightly less salty and has a smoother texture which is great for this kind of cooking.
Dried Dill is a common ingredient in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern style cooking.
The Persian dishes often have dill in their lamb and rice dishes. It also goes hand in hand with eggs and cheese.
The Greeks use dried dill in their spinach and cheese dishes particularly, like Tiropites where they also add mint. You could add chopped mint to this pie if you wanted to.
Eat your beautiful pie on it’s own or serve with brown rice and dobs of butter with a lovely green salad. The brown rice has a rich nutty flavor and texture which compliments the pie perfectly.
My boys always add a squirt of tomato sauce as well, of course.
Ingredients
- One bunch of silver-beet
- 2 large Free Range eggs
- 1 tablespoon dried dill
- 1 extra egg for basting
- 220g danish fetta
- black sesame seeds
- 4 pieces Puff Pastry
- black pepper
- olive oil
Instructions
Step 1
- Pre-heat fan forced oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Take Puff Pastry out first. Separate sheets and allow to thaw.
- Wash silver-beet, shake off excess water
- Chop silver-beet into small pieces
- Finely chop onion
- Lightly grease the base of a large pie dish
Step 2
- Saute onion and all the silver-beet in a large frying pan with olive oil
- When the silver-beet has reduced and wilted down, turn off the heat.
- In a bowl, combine eggs, danish fetta, dill and pepper until very well mixed.
- Line the pie dish with pastry. Cut as needed to fill any gaps. Allow over-lap for pastry shrinkage in the oven.
- Place in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes.
Step 3
- Remove pastry from the oven. Pat down a little using a basting brush and some of the beaten egg for basting.
- Add onion and silver-beet to the bowl, mixing everything together.
- It will be a big, wet sloppy mixture.
- Pour everything into the pie dish and cover with remaining pastry.
- Cut extra pastry as needed to fill in any gaps.
- Baste with remaining beaten egg.
- Sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes.
Notes
You do not need added salt as there is plenty in the fetta. By basting the partially cooked pastry base, you help the top layer of uncooked pastry to adhere well.
