Spinach Filo

Well what a busy couple of weeks. It’s not that I haven’t cooked but have been unable to post the recipes so this one will be one of several catch up posts I make over today. Last weekend was the Italian Festival at Leichhardt. I routinely run the cooking tent where a chef demonstrates some Italian recipes for the crowd and introduces some local Nonas who also share their recipes. It’s a good day and the crowd are well fed and entertained. This year the chef gave me some fantastic Italian cheeses to go home and experiment with so firstly I would like to share my spinach filo I made. I used the Ricotta Salata cheese, it’s a hard salted ricotta which can be grated.

I had to make spinach filo as my wonderful garden has once again filled with leafy greens. I have English spinach in abundance. I have listed a recipe below but remember mine is all from the garden so exact amounts I’m unsure of, I’ve tried to round it up or down to even bunches you would get at your fruit and veg shop.

Ingredients:

1 packet of filo

2 bunches of English spinach

1 bunch of basil

½ bunch of mint

Zest of one lime

2 cups of grated Ricotta salata cheese

1 egg

Method:

Wash and dry the spinach and herbs then chop them roughly and throw them into a large mixing bowl. Add the grated cheese lime zest and egg and mix by hand until everything is coated in egg.

Use about 5 sheets of filo per roll. You can oil or butter in between each sheet if you like, I find the easiest way to do this is use the spray olive oil and spray each sheet then carefully lay the next sheet on to the oiled one, continuing until you have five sheets. If you are more health conscious you can leave the oil out all together and it will still be a nice filo.

Place half of the mixture onto your pastry length ways; brush the edges with milk to help seal the roll. Fold each side in then roll the filo into a log and place it on a baking tray and cook at 180°C for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

the Ricotta Salata was a lovely point of difference in the filo, i make this recipe often but use feta  or soft ricotta. This cheese kept the filling firm and somehow less oily. I liked it and will source this cheese again.