Corner Shop Spanakopita, one of my December Cottage Cooking Club choices from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage VEG cookbook.
If you’re of my mindset, you may wish to take a deep-breath, settle yourself and enjoy a time-out. For five or ten minutes, at least. Even the best holidays ever can tax the jolliest among us. That’s why my last blog post of the year is a recipe-of-relief. Ready for a break from richness, sugar and sweets, calorie-laden fare and stuffing yourself? Add this easily-made entrée to your menu plan for this coming week.
Happy New Year from Me to You.
Corner Shop Spanakopita is a recipe from Englishman’s Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s’ River Cottage VEG cookbook. Every month the Cottage Cooking Club, an international circle of Hugh-groupies, choose ten recipes to share with our readers. While I cooked several vegetable dishes this month, I am posting only one because I really, really (the word fervently works here) want you to try this.
Spanakopita is a classic Greek speciality and featured in my favorite chapter of River Cottage VEG entitled Comfort Food & Feasts. It’s spinach & feta pie. Hugh was challenged by friends to simplify this recipe, using only ingredients available from the average convenience store without losing any of its taste or flavor.
To loosely paraphrase fellow Brit, Eliza Doolittle, “I think he’s got it”. Corner Shop Spanakopita has a clean, pure taste. Peculiar adjectives for an entrée, huh, but that’s what comes to mind. Served with a crispy green salad or fruit bowl, this is a perfect respite from holiday overkill.
Because this recipe is already posted on the Internet, I can provide it to you.
Corner Shop Spanakopita
River Cottage VEG cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 (2-pound) bag frozen whole-leaf spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin, fennel, or caraway seeds (whichever is handy)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only, chopped
A squeeze of lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 1/2 ounces soft goat cheese or feta, broken into small chunks
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (or coarsely chopped cashews)
13 ounces all-butter, ready-made puff pastry (ideally ready-rolled)
METHODS
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Put the frozen spinach into a saucepan with a splash of water. Cover and heat gently stirring from time to time, until completely defrosted. Tip into a colander or sieve to drain off all water, pressing with a wooden spoon to help it along.
3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the spice seeds and let them cook for a minute or two, shaking the pan frequently, then add the onion and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add the thyme. Remove from the heat.
4. When the spinach has cooled a little, squeeze as much liquid out of it as you can with your hands, then chop it coarsely. Combine it with the onion, along with a squeeze of lemon juice and plenty of salt and pepper. Set aside 2 to 3 tablespoons from the beaten eggs for the glazing and stir the remainder into the spinach and onion mixture.
5. Spoon half the spinach mixture into an 8 by 10-inch or a 9 by 9-inch ovenproof dish. Scatter over the cheese and toasted pine nuts, then top with the remaining spinach. Brush a little of the reserved beaten egg around the rim of the dish.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 1/4 inch if it’s not already rolled. Lay the pastry over the dish and trim off the excess overhanging the rim. Press down the edge of the pastry so that it sticks to the rim of the dish. Brush the pie with the reserved beaten egg and bake it for about 25 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Serve immediately.
Happy Holidays from Glory Hole in Aspen, near the base of Ajax Mountain. Hoping you get all your ducks in a row to welcome in the New Year.
The Cottage Cooking Club is a virtual international group cooking its way through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s excellent River Cottage VEG cookbook. Please join us in our adventure if you wish. To see what delicious fare my colleagues created this month, go here.
This looks delish Mary. I like the fact that the recipe uses frozen spinach, because fresh is hard to get here. Happy new year!
This is one of the two choices I made this month for CCC. Down to the wire, I’m making for tonight’s dinner. I’m glad you’ve given it such a rave review, because now I’m very excited for my next meal. Hope your holidays were fabulous. Wishing you a very Happy New Year, too, my dear friend!
This looks like one that I must try!! Yum! We had Dorie’s Scallops w Caramel Orange Sauce for our Christmas dinner w Cherie. It never fails to deliver!!! Happy New Year my friend!
This dish is definitely worthy of its own post! I see you enjoyed it as much as I did. I look forward to your posts for the other dishes you made this month.
Have a great New Year!
PS I value my fingers too much to attempt to slice Brussels sprouts with a mandoline – a good chef’s knife does the job well enough for me ;-)!
Hi Mary, Oh, yours looks amazing, love the way your crust looks, this was my favorite one this month too. Happy New Years!
Hi Mary, nice choice on the spanakopita and I hope to prepare it in the next week or so. Wishing you a wonderful time at Glory Hole in Aspen near the base of Ajax mountain. Happy New Year to You and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous year ahead!
Dear Mary, you are certainly right about the Spanakopita being a “must try” recipe – it is a wonderful and no-fuss way to serve “spinach pie” to the family – we loved the taste and the look of that recipe. All your pictures look wonderful and I love the wonderful blue dinner plate that you chose to serve your Spanakopita on – very pretty. From your other pictures I gather that you have a lot of snowy weather…it actually snowed for the first time yeasterday around here but it was too little for that snowman that the girls attempted to build.
Hope you are having a wonderful month of December!
Thank you for participating again in the Cottage Cooking Club!
Love,
andrea & Co.
Mary, I have to say I’m of “your mindset”. Oh, to have a few minutes!! Or really, maybe to just get a few things done on my list.
Oh, wait, I AM doing one of the things on my list. A little overdue catch-up on my friends’ blog postings! I am so far behind. 🙁
But what a delightful post! I think I get the idea that this one is a must-do. I think I’m taking a bit of time off from cooking for the family, but this dish looks wonderful! And your rave-reviews convince me that this isn’t just an ordinary spinach pie! I would love to try it (oh, another thing on my list!).
I hope you enjoyed Christmas (it seemed like you did!), and I would like to wish you a very Happy New Year!!
I love the name. Whenever we visit our daughter and son-in-law in England we always go to “the corner shop” – a little shop just around the block that seems to have everything but is tinier than my kitchen. This sounds wonderful, I’ve made spanakopita but only with filo. I love the idea of using puff pastry.
Mary, I’m so glad you loved this recipe! This wasn’t my favorite version, but I definitely agree that spanakopita is the perfect break-from-the-holidays entree. Your clean and pure description is exactly right. After all of the eating out this time of year, I really crave simple foods when I’m home. Thank you so much for sending the stickers for Charlotte. She’s just starting to understand how much fun stickers are. Happy New Year!
I have a favorite Spanakopita recipe that a friend gave me years ago. It’s made with phyllo, and you layer it with spinach, mixed with feta cheese, like for Baklava. I love that this recipe calls for puff pastry! Easier for sure! And so pretty! Glad you enjoyed it!
Happy New Year, my friend! xoxo
That looks and sounds lovely, Mary! I will definitely have to give this a try. I love the photo with the ducks! So beautiful.
I too did not use a mandoline for the sprouts – just sliced them with a knife. I hope you got the chance to make the soup – it was wonderful! Happy New Year, Mary!! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your posts.
It looks delicious! One I’d definitely try when I have some non-vegans to feed around here. Nice way to end the year’s posts!