I know I normally go for easy meals on a Wednesday, but yesterday was different…mainly because I have a social/networking event tonight for work so will be having the easy meal then instead.
We often have a similar version of this meal from Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals book – it is one of our favourite meals! When we saw this recipe in the April 2013 issue of Cook Vegetarian magazine, we decided to give it a go, especially as it is lower in fat than Jamie’s version! To keep it that little more low fat, I opted for Olive Oil over the butter stated in the recipe.
Spinach Torte
Ingredients:
1 kg Spinach
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Small Red Onions, peeled and finely diced
1 tsp Dried Oregano
6 Large Organic Free Range eggs
200g Feta, crumbled
500g Cottage Cheese
1/3 Nutmeg, grated
Handful of freshly grated vegetarian Parmesan
225g Pack of ready-made Filo Pastry
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C
Prepare a shallow baking dish (approx 36cm x 28cm and 6cm high) by rubbing it with a small amount of olive oil
Heat a little of the olive oil in a large pan
Add the spinach and allow to wilt down, add in batches and stir the fresh spinach into the wilted to speed up the process and to not overflow from the pan
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat a little olive oil and add the onion and dried oregano and fry until softened
Once the onions are cooked, remove from the heat to cool
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk
Add the crumbled Feta, grated nutmeg, cottage cheese and Parmesan-style cheese, whisk to combine
Once the spinach is wilted, remove from the heat and drain any liquid from the pan, then squeeze the spinach to remove any leftover moisture
Add the cooled onions and spinach to the egg mixture and combine
Make sure that the oil is still spread around the baking dish and redistribute if needed
Lay one of the sheets of filo into the bottom of the dish, overlapping the edges, and using a pastry brush spread with olive oil
Repeat to cover the bottom of the dish and over lap the edges
Pour the egg mixture onto the filo pastry in the dish, spread evenly
Use the remaining filo sheets to create a lid for the Torte, brushing each sheet with olive oil as you place it down
Fold over the edges neatly and brush with a final coat of oil
Lightly score the top of the pasty in diagonal lines
Place in the oven for 40 minutes
Serve with a fresh salad and celery sticks (or other desired salad veg)
