Popeye Pie (or Spinach & Feta Filo pie if you prefer!)

Spinach ends up in my shopping trolley every week. It's cheap, healthy and either served hot or cold it has multiple recipe uses.

It's full of good things to make your body happy! Containing iron, vitamins A and C, thiamin, potassium and folic acid - no wonder it made Popeye grow up big and strong! .

Typically, I serve it wilted with a little butter and nutmeg or in a salad where it's firm leaves can take on warm, spicy chorizo and dense, creamy butter beans. However, I'm sure you can make a spinach salad without my help, so Popeye Pie is a slightly more adventurous way of dealing with it......

This dish is based on the classic Greek recipe Spanakotyropita, however I've taken out the herbs and added onions as I think this improves the final result....(I'm sure a Greek person would chastise me greatly for this..!).

You can serve this in thick wedges, hot or cold, which means it's a great picnic dish or vegetarian main (use vegetarian feta though if you are going down this route). My preference is to serve it as a summery alternative to a Sunday roast, eaten with a pile of basmati rice and crisp green leaves spiked with a lemon dressing. This serves 6, so you can get people round, enjoy the weather, food and their company. Perfect!

Popeye Pie

2 onions (1 red & 1 white)
50g butter
2 cloves crushed garlic (or use puree)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (fresh if possible)
200g feta
2 eggs
filo pastry (4 sheets required)
salt/pepper

Step 1: Heat oven to 200c/GM6

Step 2: Slice onions and cook on a medium in about 20g of the butter until soft and golden

Step 3: Add the garlic, cook through for about 2 mins and then add the spinach (you'll need to do this a handful at a time until it wilts before adding the next). Put in a bowl to cool

Step 4: Add to your cooled spinach, crumbled feta, beaten eggs, nutmeg and seasoning (it looks funny but will taste great - promise!)

Step 5: Melt the remaining butter (30 seconds in the microwave normally does it..) and use some of this to butter a springform cake tin (normal 'victoria sponge' size - I used a deep one but I think shallow might be better). Next, add 1 sheet of filo so it covers the bottom of the tin but leaves pastry hanging over the side. Butter the filo sheet and turn the tin 90 degrees. Repeat with each remaining sheet (not as complicated as it might read...)

Step 6: Press the spinach filling into the tin and gently pull the sheets over the top to cover it up*. Brush with the remaining butter

Step 7: Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until the top is golden. Remove and leave to cool for 5 minutes if serving hot or until fully cold and chill for eating later.

Top Tips

• *Worst case scenario...you may find a gap in the top where the pastry hasn't quite covered the filling. Don't panic! Just get 1 more sheet of filo, scrunch it up, apply to the top and brush with melted butter. Solved!
• Bacon/Pancetta make a great addition to this recipe. Pan fry first and then add to the mix before pressing into the tin.
• You can experiment quite a lot with the fillings too. I've tried pumpkin (roasted, pureed and mixed with 1 egg yolk, Parmesan, nutmeg and fresh white breadcrumbs) and roasted vegetables. Both taste great hot or cold.

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Sexy Sides!

Some may say that writing an entry tenuously linking food and, ahem, sex is a blatant attempt to get more people to find my page in google....you may be right but go with me a little.....

I think the way people react to food is a very personal thing. Some people get giddy over chocolate, some weep for cheese and some hanker for a nice, juicy steak over all else. I think I'm still finding my true food love but there are certainly some things that fill my head, heart and tummy with happiness.

There are foods that make me smile (soft piles of marshmallows), some that provide comforting warmth (silky, smooth risottos) and some that make me want to feel the sun on my skin, reach for the wine glass and laugh uncontrollably with loved ones. It's this food that I think of as sexy food.

My requirements for sexy food are quite specific:

1. It must promise pleasure on the plate
2. It's flavours must surprise
3. It's textures must interest
4. It must be light in the mouth and light in the tummy
5. It must inspire thoughts of summer
6. It must take very little effort and not detract from all the fun that will ensue

A hard task! However, I'm not prescriptive on what course this applies to. It could as easily be an elderflower granita for dessert as a whole, roasted sea bream for main. So, here I share a few of the side dishes I consider to meet the bill:

• Roasted red pepper, goats cheese, walnut and honey
• Baked fennel, stuffed with orange and feta breadcrumbs

It was only after a little research that I realised there may be a little bit more in the appeal of these dishes than meets the eye! Both fennel and honey are natural aphrodisiacs, popularised by the Egyptians. Well.... if it was good enough for Cleopatra.....

Red Pepper, Goats Cheese Walnut and Honey Salad (serves 2)

2 long red peppers

2 handfuls of large walnuts

100g soft, crumbly goats cheese

2 tablespoons best honery

seasoning

salad leaves (to serve)

Step 1: Halve and deseed peppers

Step 2: Place peppers on a lightly oiled baking tray and bake in the oven (160c) for 10-15 minutes until softening

Step 3: Sprinkle goats cheese and walnuts over the peppers and roast for 10 minutes (careful the walnuts don't burn)

Step 4: Remove from the oven, season lightly and serve warm drizzled with honey

Baked fennel, stuffed with orange and feta breadcrumbs (serves 2)

 
2 fennel bulbs
olive oil
1 orange
50g feta
100g dried breadcrumbs
seasoning
orange slices (to serve - optional)
 
Step 1: Halve the bulbs and remove the core to create a sort of fennel bowl

 

 
Step 2: Drizzle over oil, season, cover with foil and roast for 15 mins (160c)
 
Step 3: Whislt roasting, zest and juice the orange. Mix zest, half the juice, feta, glug of oil and breadcrumbs together to make a fragrant, mouldable stuffing (if it's too dry, add more juice/oil). Season to taste.
 
Step 4: Remove the foil from the fennel and press the stuffing into the bulb cavity. Roast for 15 minutes until the stuffing is golden and crispy.
 
Step 5: Serve with slices of orange
 
I've reverting to type with my next post.... the waist-expanding delights of Pavlova Supernova!
Helen x

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A-meze-ing Meze

Oooooohh meze!! Virtually the only way you can justifiably try everything on the menu without spending an inordinate amount of money or being perceived as the greediest person at the table.

Authentic meze takes effort. Little dishes must warrant their place at the table with big, gutsy flavours and surprising textures. Ideally they must also complement each other, with a theme of ingredients running through the collection of dishes.

On the face of it, making ten different dishes at home, that each delight and marry together is a little daunting (finding the time to cook one meal can be hard enough!).

So, this is my easy approach to meze, practised with some friends over the weekend. Dishes are generally Helen-invented (i.e. not authentic Greek dishes), but inspired by Mediterranean ingredients and recipes.

I've been quite brief with the method, as the dishes aren't complicated and you can easily tweak things.

Meze Dish 1: Pitta Stuffed with Spiced Lamb

Method
Dry fry 2 tsp cumin seeds and crush in pestle and mortar with a pinch of dried chili flakes. Mix in with 200g lamb mince, a healthy glug of garlic infused olive oil, 1 tbsp sesame seeds and seasoning. Roll into balls and press into patties. Bake in the oven 160c - 180c for 20 minutes (you may need to drain some fat during the cooking time). Serve in toasted pittas with grated carrot.

Meze Dish 2: Hot & Smoky Sweet Potato

Method
Slice 3 large sweet potatoes into wedges. Mix with seasoning, 1 tsp smoked paprika and a good glug of chili oil. Bake in the oven (160c) for 20 minutes until golden.

Meze Dish 3: Sweet and Savoury Nuts

Method
Melt a knob of butter in the microwave. Mix with 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin and ground sea salt (amount depends on your taste and concern about sodium levels!). Stir in 200g chopped nuts and spread mixture on baking try. Roast at 160c for 10 minutes. Remove and leave to cool before serving.

Meze Dish 4: Tasty Tortillas

Apply a paste of your choice (e.g. tomato puree/pesto/harisa/sundried tomato) to 1 tortilla. Top with slices of meat (e.g. chorizo, salami) and grated cheese (e.g. mozzarella). Place another tortilla on top, squeeze together and grill on each side for 3-4 minutes until golden and bubbling on the inside (be careful when you turn them over). Slice and serve warm.

Meze Dish 5: Lentil and Aubergine Salad

Method: Chop 1 aubergine into cubes. Mix with olive oil, 1 tsp ground cumin and seasoning. Roast for 40 minutes until golden. Whilst cooking, boil 150g puy lentils. When cooked, stir though 3 large chopped tomatoes, a handful of chopped coriander, roasted aubergine, 2 tsp cider vinegar and crumbled feta. Season to taste and serve.

Meze Dish 6: Tzatziki and Tortilla Chips

Method: Grate 1/2 cucumber, place in kitchen roll and squeeze out as much fluid as possible. Mix with 2 tbsp full-fat Greek yogurt, 1 tsp cider vinegar, seasoning and 2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil. Stir, stir, stir and serve with grilled triangles of tortilla.

Hopefully you can see how easy these dishes are! They're great for relaxed evenings with friends indoors or out! You could increase the amounts and easily served as side dishes for BBQs too.

Hope you enjoy - and maybe try?!

Helen

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Greek Tales Part 2: Moussaka Masterclass!

One of the things I really love about foreign towns and cities is the food markets. I’m filled with happiness by the accidental turn off the tourist trail, down a side-street and into a secret world of locals bustling about buying their weekly fresh produce.


Our food markets just don’t seem comparable. Whilst I will happily stroll around our farmers markets, there is something a little clinical (and overpriced) in contrast with the natural European markets. For them it feels like a way of life and for us it seems to be some kind of aspirational statement (which I’ll admit to buying into!).

In Greece, I wandered down a cobbled street on a quest to find our hastily parked car, and tripped into the hubbub of the street vendors. Men and women selling stalls upon stalls of fragrant fruit and vegetables bursting with sunshine and goodness. Glistening, pungent fish were piled high, only centimetres from the pavement with swathes of people pushing past, shopping trolleys overflowing with haggled bargains.

I think the best, comparable quality at home comes from vegetable box schemes. I can’t wait to have a garden where I can grow my own vegetables but until then, my street market happiness comes in a box! The seasonal selection of muddy, knobbly vegetables are so much more exciting than regulation-sized carrots and machine-washed potatoes from the supermarket. If you haven’t tried a veg box scheme before, it’s really fun and they often have good offers for first time purchasers (e.g. your first box free – no catch!). My favourite national suppliers are Riverford Organics and Abel & Cole, though you may be able to find some interesting regional providers too. Cost wise, if you eat a lot of vegetables at home, the price is equivalent to supermarkets. If you’re still on a mission to meet your three let alone five a day target though, it may seem expensive…..

Anyway, enough vegetable chat and onto the main course, the super recipe for Moussaka from the Melenos Lindos hotel. There is a link in my ramblings to be made however, with many of the ingredients in season now (i.e. likely to be in a veg box/on offer in the supermarket).

This moussaka was very different to the versions I’ve tried before. The flavours are more delicate and the whole dish is less ‘saucy’, but it’s all the better for it!

Serves 2

• 200g best lean beef (optional - marinated for 4 hours in olive oil and herbs)
• 2 beef tomatoes (1 finely chopped and 1 sliced)
• 20g Parmesan
• 25g plain flour (+ extra to use as coating)
• 25g cornflour
• 50ml light olive oil (+ extra to use for frying)
• 500ml milk
• 1 aubergine
• ½ finely chopped onion
• 20g feta
• Selection of summer herbs

Step 1: Chop the beef into small pieces. Add to frying pan and brown. Add onion and tomato and cook for five mins on low heat. Put to one side.

Step 2: Remove lengthways 1cm sections of the peel from the aubergine (this will create a striped effect on the outside) and cut into ½ cm thick slices. Drop slices in bowl of cold water and then coat in flour. Lightly fry in hot oil for 2 mins on each side until golden. Remove and sit on kitchen towel to drain excess oil

Step 3: Add cornflour, plain flour and olive oil to large saucepan and create a roux. Keep stirring on low heat to cook out the flour. Gradually add the milk, whisking all the time (the lumps will go – just keeping adding & whisking!). When thickened stir through half of the Parmesan and 2 tbsp of chopped herbs.

Step 4: Use a small bowl to assemble dish. First, create a layer of tomatoes, add a sprinkling of the herbs and Parmesan and then add a layer of aubergine. Repeat with another layer of tomato, herbs, Parmesan and aubergine.

Step 5: Spoon the beef mixture on top and press firmly into dish

Step 6: Spoon béchamel sauce mixture on top, and a sprinkling of herbs and then another covering of sauce (you need to ensure herbs are slightly covered by sauce to prevent them burning)

Step 7: Place in the oven (160c) for 25 mins

Step 8: Sprinkle the feta over the top of the moussaka and return to the oven for another 5 minutes

….and there you have it! I’m looking forward to doubling up the recipe and making it for some friends soon. Also keen to see whether it tastes anywhere near as nice at home as it did when the professionals were involved!!

Next post will be the final Greek instalment, with a selection of meze recipes.

Helen x

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Holiday Memories

Feedahappylife has been on holiday! Not that you'd know it with all the chip & dip posting that's been occuring!

Anyway, I've been off on my travels to Greece, specifically the island of Rhodes, and have returned happy, refreshed and full of lovely memories.

Holidays for me are generally, and perhaps not surprisingly, remembered by the food I indulged in at the time. A childhood trip to France evokes thoughts of beach picnics with sand-covered Boursin and crusty bread. A school trip to Italy brings back unhappy thoughts of over-cooked veal and omelet sandwiches abandoned in a bin in Rome. A trip to Canada remembered by Steamroller Burritos whilst watching the sunset. You get the idea!

During my last few holidays, I've tried to get a little deeper into local food culture by walking round food markets and attending cookery classes during my trip. It's such an enjoyable way to get off the tourist trail, meet local residents and take some unique memories home.

A little searching in Rhodes led me to a cookery course at the Melenos Lindos hotel - a mere 10 minute drive from where I was staying.

I arrived for my class with little knowledge of who I was about to meet and what I was about to cook! Upon being ushered into the kitchen I was delighted to realise I had three chefs all to myself for the ninety minute lesson, where I was to cook Tsatziki, Moussaka and Feta Parcels. I also received a tour of their gardens, where the hotel grew so much of their own produce, and saw fat almonds ripening on trees.

I thought I'd share the lovely recipes with you over the next few blog posts, so you can try them too! I've written the recipe for the Feta Filo parcels below, next I'll post the recipe for the amazing Moussaka mid-week and then I'll conclude at the weekend with a selection of my own mezze recipes (great for indulging in whilst the football is on!).

Feta Filo Parcels (recipe courtesy of Melenos Lindos)

Serves 1

                                

3 sheets of filo pastry

1 large cube of feta (200g)

Zest of 1 lime

Water

Sesame seeds (50g plain and 50g black)

Honey

Olive oil (for frying)

Step 1. Lay out 3 sheets of filo on top of each other, place the feta towards 1 end of the filo and top with half of the lime zest.

                                                

Step 2. Apply water to the edges of the filo and fold sides over the feta and roll over to form a parcel.

                                                

                                                

Step 3. Quickly dip/brush water over the parcel and roll in the sesame seeds

Step 4. Heat enough oil in a pan to fry the parcels. Test the heat by dropping a sesame seed into the oil - it needs to be hot enough to sizzle immediately. Carefully place the parcels into the hot oil and turn after 3 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown before removing the parcels to rest briefly on kitchen roll.

Step 5. Plate up the parcel with remaining zest and honey drizzled over. Eat immediately!

The honey really complements the saltiness of the feta and the lime lifts it all with a summery finish. I shared mine, as I found it quite rich, but think it would make a great vegetarian main with a nice salad.

Hope you enjoy - best moussaka recipe ever coming next!

Helen x

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