Spinach, Halloumi & Feta Pie

This halloumi, feta and spinach pie is full of goodness and flavour. Packed with plenty of spinach, grated halloumi, crumbled feta and a hint of nutmeg it has a crisp wholemeal shortcrust base and a buttery puff pastry top! It also makes plenty for lunches or a quick dinner to have ready in the fridge. Just serve with a salad for a complete meal!

This recipe is from Pauline from HappyRetireesKitchen and when I saw it, I knew that I had to make it.

Now my version sounds like a lot of effort and truthfully most of the work is in the wholemeal olive oil and parmesan pastry. I've got bad news: this pastry is delicious so please make it if you want to try a gorgeous, crisp short savoury pastry or at least keep it up your sleeve for when you want to spend the time making the pastry. Or you can just buy shortcrust and puff pastry and all you have to do is make the filling which is a cinch. I used to make puff pastry from scratch and have some in my freezer but I don't seem to have time any more.

I'm finding that I'm quite time poor nowadays, surprisingly so given January is usually a very quiet month. I don't go out to many events or functions but one launch interested me so I asked Ivy to come along as Mr NQN had no interest in attending. When we arrived at the event was no trace of it. When I asked staff they said, "Oh they cancelled."

I checked my manager's emails to see if there was a cancellation and maybe he just forgot to let me know but there was nothing. Then I rang him and asked him if they had cancelled and he answered no. So I rang the PR person and asked her about it. "Oh yes we cancelled with your manager," she said breezily with utmost confidence. I had to break it to her that I had already spoken to him and that she hadn't at all and his emails backed him up. "Ooops, sorry!" she said caught in the fib!

So tell me Dear Reader, how often do you completely lie? Can you tell when people are lying? Do you make your own pastry or do you buy it?

Spinach Halloumi & Feta Pie

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 45 minutes plus chilling time

Cooking time: 45 minutes

For pastry

• 220g/7.7ozs. plain flour
• 100g/3.5ozs. wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 60g/2.1ozs. butter
• 60ml/2.1flozs. olive oil
• 70ml/2.5flozs. cold water
• Pinch salt

For Filling

• 500g/1.1lbs frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed well to remove liquid (I got 1/2 cup of water from it)
• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 250g/8.8ozs. halloumi, grated
• 200g/7ozs. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 egg
• 100ml/3.5ozs. cream
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Also

• 1 1/4 sheets of puff pastry (to cover tray), thawed in fridge
• egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk

Step 1 - Place the flours and cheese in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter, olive oil, water and salt and process until it starts to come together. Knead on a bench until the pastry comes together, cover and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Step 2 - Spray a lamington baking dish (20x30cms/8x12inch)with oil spray and roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to fit the tray and trim the edges. Dock with a fork and place in the freezer for 15 minutes while the oven preheats (preheat to 150C/300F).

Step 3 - Line the cold pastry with baking weights-I use ceramic weights on top of foil that has been sprayed with oil pastry side down. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove weights and bake for another 10 minutes until done. Cool.

Step 4 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Mix all of the filling ingredients in a bowl. Spread out the filling on the pastry. Top with the puff pastry and seal edges with a fork pressed down (I also did a little scoring pattern but this isn't necessary) and brush with egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden on top.