A one-skillet spinach & cheese phyllo pie - the easiest spinach & cheese pie you will ever make! It is meant to be rustic and free-form, which makes it basically impossible to mess up. It all comes together in one skillet, & the use of store-bought phyllo pastry makes for a surprisingly light and flaky golden crown, & makes assembling the pie a breeze!

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 bunches fresh spinach, cleaned & leaves deveined (about 250g leaves after cleaning)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 250g fresh ricotta cheese
• 130g feta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 bunch fresh mint, finely chopped

For assembling:

• 6 sheets phyllo pastry
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

METHOD

1. After cleaning the spinach thoroughly and removing the thick tough veins from the large leaves, bunch the leaves together on a chopping board and roughly chop into thin strips. You may need to run your knife through a couple of times to get everything chopped up. Set aside.
2. Heat a cast iron skillet (or any other oven-proof skillet) on medium-low heat. Add the oil & butter, then the onion. Cook the onion, stirring, for 3 minutes until starting to soften & yellow. Add the garlic and cook a further minute or 2 until fragrant.
3. Add the chopped spinach to the skillet and immediately cover it. Wait 2 minutes, then remove the lid and stir to evenly distribute the onion/garlic mixture through the spinach. As soon as the spinach is wilted, lightly season the mixture with salt & pepper, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the rest of the filling.
4. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
5. In a bowl, combine the ricotta and feta cheese. Use a large fork or a potato masher to mash the cheeses together till well mixed. Add the eggs and mix through. Add the chopped mint, then the spinach and onion mixture (just make sure it isn’t too hot or it will scramble the eggs! Better to leave it until it stops steaming completely & is almost room temperature). Mix everything together well, then pour it all back into the same skillet you used to cook the spinach. Spread the mixture so that it is an even layer in the skillet, reaching all the way to the sides.
6. Assemble the Phylo topping: Lay out the phyllo sheets onto a clean surface. Combine the melted butter with the oil in a small bowl, then use a pastry brush to lightly brush the first sheet of phyllo. Once brushed, quickly transfer it onto the filling in your skillet, letting it drape in loosely, creating lots of folds and curves (refer to video!). Repeat with the rest of the phyllo sheets, laying each one on top of the previous sheet to create some height. This is in no way meant to be perfect! So don’t worry if a sheet tears or you haven’t worked with phyllo before; it is extremely forgiving & is meant to be rustic & ruffled.
7. Bake the pie in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the phyllo pastry is beautifully golden & crisp. Serve warm.

Notes:

• Please use chilled phyllo pastry, not frozen, if possible. If you can only find frozen, place the pastry in the fridge overnight before making the pie so that the phyllo is properly thawed and easy to use.

Prep time: 20 min.
Cook time: 30 min.
Serves: 4.

Recipe and video created by Matters of the Belly. Click here to see her blog. 
Music by Josh Woodward.