#SaturdayNightCook: Double Greens Filo Pie

The last 2 weeks I’ve encouraged us to cook together for #SaturdayNightCook.

Hundreds of you have cooked the sweet potato dhal, and last Saturday, black bean tacos, and a load more of you followed along. I have been, quite frankly, quite emotional seeing pictures of so many of you sharing the same thing. It’s solidarity in the kitchen. And I am here for it. While we can’t eat out, cook for our family and friends, or have a glass of wine in real life, let’s cook together in this new weird virtual world.

This week I have chosen another old favourite, an easy pie that’s loosely based on the Greek spanakopita but is much quicker and easier to put together (also NBD but it was chosen by Stanley Tucci as his favourite ever recipe and the man knows about food.

It uses some clever shortcuts you can have this on the table in half an hour. I will be cooking it live on Instagram at 6pm (GMT) this Saturday 2nd May and I’ll save it to my IGTV if you want to watch it after.

SERVES 4–6
olive oil
1 bunch of spring onions (about 8), trimmed and roughly chopped (or use 1 white onion, finely chopped)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g greens – spring greens, kale, spinach, chard or a mix, shredded (chop any stalks finely)
grated zest of 1⁄2 an unwaxed lemon
3 organic or free-range eggs
200g feta cheese (or goat’s cheese, crumbled cheddar, or half a tin of mashed white beans or vegan cheese)
a large bunch of fresh herbs (parsley, dill, mint, coriander or a combination, picked and roughly chopped)
4 large sheets of filo pastry or 8 smaller ones
1 tablespoon poppy seeds or sesame seeds

Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.

Put a 26cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan on a medium heat and add a little olive oil, then add the spring onions with a pinch of salt and fry for a few minutes, until softened.

Next, add a couple of handfuls of spring greens or kale and cook until they have shrunk down a little. Keep adding like this until all the greens are in the pan, then cook until just wilted. Add the chard or spinach and let that wilt too. Sprinkle over the lemon zest and season with more salt if needed and a bit of pepper. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool a little.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, crumble in the feta and add the chopped herbs. Once the greens are cool, add these too. Wipe out the frying pan with some kitchen paper.
Get yourself a large sheet of baking paper, about 50cm long, and lay it on your work surface.

Drizzle it with a little olive oil, then scrunch it up into a ball so it’s all coated (this will stop it burning in the oven). Now lay it flat again.

Lay the filo over the baking paper in two layers – it will overlap here and there but that’s ok. Drizzle the lot with a bit more oil. Now carefully lift the paper to rest on top of the frying pan, with the excess hanging evenly round the edges.

Pour the egg and greens mixture into the middle and level out with a spoon. Fold the excess layers of pastry over the top to cover the top of the greens mixture. No need to be too neat here, as some movement and texture looks beautiful. Sprinkle over the poppy seeds and pop the pan into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

I like to serve this with a cucumber salad, simply dressed with dill and lemon, and some green leaves.