One of our favourites, it’s an easy meal and very tasteful. The biggest bonus? The Tweedles love it. My children actually eat spinach in disguise! The original recipe is from Donna Hay (the Fast, Fresh, Simple book), but I adjusted it a little. As usual, I don’t measure and I don’t stick to recipes.

A fair warning, I went for the lazy option today. So, there is some frozen stuff involved. And no baking tins (less washing up to do…).

Ingredients;

1 bag (750 grams) frozen, chopped up, spinach (so here’s the cheating… When I use fresh spinach, I have to blanch it well in advance, let it cool and THEN squeeze it…)
500 grams of ricotta cheese
A good handful of freshly chopped mint
2 large eggs
100 grams of feta cheese
8 sheets of puff pastry (the original recipe uses filo pastry, but The Man prefers puff pastry) and okay, I cheated here too… I used to different brands, because I didn’t have enough of either.
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
Salt
Peper

Instructions;

1)    Defrost the spinach and squeeze out the excess liquid (this prevents the filling from becoming soggy) and place in a bowl.

2)    Add the ricotta, chopped mint, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper to the spinach and mix.

3)    Place the puff pastry on a baking tray lined with baking paper, create a rectangle.

4)    Put the mixture on the middle of the pastry and spread out evenly.

5)    Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling and put in the oven for approx 20 minutes on 220 degrees Celsius.

Cut in pieces and serve with a light, fresh salad (which I totally forgot to do today).

The Tweedles love it, I love it, The Man loves it… It’s a winner!

Few tips;

• If the mixture feels to dry add an extra egg.
• If I feel up to it, I fry some diced bacon and add it to the mixture for some extra salty flavour.
• I sometimes use dill instead of mint (which I should have done today as my dill plants are taking on bush-like appearances in my herb garden). Or coriander… Same story by the way.
• I sometimes replace half the ricotta with cream and add an extra egg (or two) to the mixture. If you do this, you will need to use a baking tin, as the mixture is runnier and might run out of the pastry.
• I, honest to God, prefer filo pastry. Try it, do it! But yeah, well… The Man loves puff pastry (especially the buttery kind) and I do like to spoil him once in a while.

Enjoy!

*SoWritten