Aussie Spanakopita
Another fantastic recipe courtesy of Sam and Ellie Studd; this recipe is from their book The Best Things in Life are Cheese. Sam and Ellie will be joining us at Hill Street Sandy Bay on 14 and 15 June for Solstice with the Studds – a night filled with cheesy goodness. This Greek-inspired spanakopita-style dish is super fun to make and features a unique Aussie all-star curd-in-oil cheese. It also has an unconventional addition of roasted red capsicum, which we refuse to apologise for.
How long will it take?
1 ½ hours
What’s the serving size?
Serves 4
What do I need?
- 1 bunch of English spinach, stalks removed, leaves finely chopped
- 1 bunch of kale, leaves stripped and finely chopped
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 320 g Meredith Dairy Marinated Goat Cheese, crumbled, plus 80 ml (¹⁄³ cup) strained oil from the jar
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 roasted red capsicum, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon hot paprika
- ¼ bunch of dill, finely chopped
- 16 sheets of filo pastry
- 125 ml (½ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
- Black sesame seeds, for sprinkling
- Tomato relish, to serve
How do I make it?
- Combine the spinach and kale in a large colander and toss through 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stand for 20 minutes or until the spinach and kale leaves are just softened. Rinse under cold running water and drain.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C conventional. Grease a 22 cm round baking dish.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the curd oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add the spinach and kale and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes, until wilted. Remove from the heat and set aside until cool enough to handle, then place the mixture in a clean tea towel and squeeze out the excess water. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Wipe out the frying pan and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of curd oil over medium heat. Add the spring onion and garlic and cook for 2–3 minutes, until softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then transfer to the spinach and kale mixture. Add the marinated curd, zest, egg, capsicum, paprika and dill, season to taste with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Divide the mixture into four equal portions.
- Brush three sheets of filo pastry with olive oil and stack them on top of each other. Top with another sheet of filo, then spoon one portion of the spinach and kale mixture along a long edge of the pastry, 2 cm in from the edge. Fold the pastry over the mixture and roll up into a 2 cm thick log, then place the log around the edge of the prepared dish. Brush the log with oil, then repeat with the remaining pastry, oil and filling, coiling the logs in towards the middle. Brush the top of the spanakopita with more oil, sprinkle with a few black sesame seeds, then transfer to the oven and bake for 35–45 minutes, until the top is golden and crispy.
- Cool the spanakopita on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with tomato relish.
