SPRING LEAF PIE
This is not our traditional pie recipe. This pie has a thin crispy olive oil pastry, filled with fresh spring leaves and baked until crisp. It would be perfect for a spring picnic or light evening dinner to celebrate our longer days!
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
350g of plain flour
1 pinch of sea salt
5 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1-2 Tbsp cold water
FILLING
1kg silverbeet , spinach or a mix, washed and trimmed
3 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, sliced thinly
3 spring onions, finely chopped
25g of Parmesan, grated
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
Method
Begin by preparing the dough. Stir together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of water at a time and knead it all together into a ball of dough (it should be soft and elastic but not not sticky; add more water or flour to reach the right density). Wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the fridge to rest for an hour
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Remove the silverbeet stalks and blanch for 4 minutes in salted boiling water. Drain, squeeze out any liquid and set aside.
In a large frypan, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the sliced onions and cook for 5 minutes or until they are soft and sweet, Add the cooked silverbeet stalks, and all the remaining leaves and cook until well wilted and all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and cool in a colander to remove excess liquid.
Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Unwrap the dough and split it in half. Dust a working surface with flour and roll the first half, as thinly as possible and ideally as large as the baking sheet. Roll it on the rolling pin and unroll it on top of the lined baking sheet.
Fold the Parmesan cheese into the spinach mix, then spread the filling all over the bottom sheet of dough. Roll the other piece of dough and ease it on top of the filling. Fold the edges towards the centre to close the pie. Pierce the whole surface with a fork and brush it with oil
Bake the pie for 30 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
Serve warm or at room temperature
