This delicious cheese and spinach pie is super quick and easy and is delicious warm or cold. It’s sure to be a meat-free family favourite!
This month’s reader recipe is an absolute cracker and has become a much loved recipe in our house. I am so grateful to reader Flossie for sharing it with us because it’s all kind of delicious! It’s needs just a handful of fridge and pantry staples, it’s super easy to throw together, does not require any special kitchen equipment – all you really need is a big bowl and a pair of hands – and it looks and tastes spectacular!
I’m taking a bit of artistic licence here for Meatless Monday because this recipe is indeed meatless but it does include parmesan cheese which is actually not vegetarian so if you are, just add your favourite cheese. You really can’t go wrong with spinach and cheese – it’s a winning combination!
Flossie suggests serving this warm but we love it best cold with a side salad. This would be great for a bring-a-plate, a picnic and a slice always goes down a treat in a lunch box too!
Talking of lunch boxes, if individual serves are more your style, you can make individual Spinach and Cheese Pies in the pie maker. You will need extra pastry though, as you’ll be able to get about 14 pies out of this recipe. They’re just the ticket for a lunch box or a picnic! Scroll down for the pie maker instructions.
What are your favourite food combinations? Do you have a reader recipe that you’d like to share?
Ingredients
1 large pack of spinach, roughly chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
100g grated parmesan cheese (or vegetarian alternative)
1/2 cup olive oil
5 eggs, lightly beaten
2 sheets frozen puff pastry
How to – Tradtional
- Preheat oven to 200C. Lightly grease a 24cm pie dish.
- Place spinach, onion, breadcrumbs, cheese, olive oil and almost all of the egg in a large bowl and mix together using your hands. Season well.
- Line the prepared dish with one sheet of the pastry, stretching it up to the edge of the rim and then trimming the edges.
- Add the spinach mixture and top with the other sheet of pastry, trimming the edges and pressing to seal. Brush with the remaining beaten egg.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes until pastry is golden and cooked through.
- Allow to cool and serve warm or cold with a green salad.
How to – Pie Maker
This recipe involves re-rolling left over pastry to avoid waste. If you don’t want to re-roll, you’ll need at least 2 more sheets.
- Preheat the pie maker. Defrost 4 puff pastry sheets.
- Preheat the pie maker and with the pie maker cutter cut 8 large circles from 2 of the pastry sheets and 8 small circles from the other 2 pastry sheets.
- Place spinach, onion, breadcrumbs, cheese, olive oil and almost all of the egg in a large bowl and mix together using your hands. Season well.
- Line each of the pie holes with a large circle of puff pastry, fill with 1/4 cup spinach mixture and top with a circle of puff pastry. Gently press the edges, top with a puff pastry heart if desired, and cook for 6-8 minutes or until golden.
- Allow to cool and serve warm or cold with a green salad.
