Spinach Pie & Apple Bavarois

Main: Spinach Pie (or Spanakopita) with Roast Pumpkin & Beetroot Salad
Pie – my own recipe & salad from Women’s Weekly Cooking for Friends Pg. 111

Dessert: Apple Bavarois with Burnt Honey Syrup
Sunday Magazine

Hi Everyone, hope you have had a happy week trying out some new recipes.

This week we have gone vegetarian much to the displeasure of the MAV. Seriously… who doesn’t like a good spinach pie?? Yes, yes, I know it can at times be a little bland and the meat lovers in your house may not appreciate it, but hey why not live on the wild side and give it a go. Anyway this recipe is an adaptation of my own and is one of those things you can throw together at the last minute having prepared the filling earlier. A couple of key things here – you must drain (or squash) all the liquid from the spinach once steamed otherwise you will send the pastry soggy.

That is also why it is best not to assemble the pie until cooking time. The combination of three different types of cheese along with silverbeet and baby spinach makes for a really savoury pie. With regard to the tub of cottage cheese, I use the chive and onion flavour and that also gives it a boost. I was looking forward to trying the salad of pumpkin and beetroot because they are two of my favourite things and it didn’t disappoint. However, the beetroot is baked and not pickled and it is a very earthy flavour. If this isn’t your sort of thing, I would replace the fresh beetroot with a tin of whole baby beets. These will work beautifully and will be a little sweeter in flavour. The tangy dressing of greek yoghurt, lime and ginger was simple and fresh. This is a dressing you could use of any number of things from fish to chicken as well as salad. The pie received 10/10 and the salad a 9/10.

And sooooo, onto dessert. Well, my own fault. Yes, I have tried recipes from the paper before and had marginally good results but this was a bit of a flop. (I really need to stick to WW or delicious). The apple bavarois is described as “This creamy apple bavarois if just a combination of three simple elements – custard, apple purée and cream. Nothing more to it.” Well, sorry but there is more to it. For a start, the flavour is greatly lacking and secondly, the sauce of honey simmered with cloves just doesn’t work, plus the smell turned me off. Let’s face it, when cooking and then eating we are using not just taste but smell to begin with and the smell of the sauce just left me disinterested in even eating the dessert. To me, what it needed was a good caramel sauce and a dollop of cream. As usual I have included the original recipe but please take note of what I have said and maybe use a different sauce and I would put half a teaspoon of vanilla in the custard. If you make the sauce too far in advance it does set like concrete but you can warm it through and melt it again. However, this is not mentioned in the recipe itself. Why don’t they give us these tips? It is so frustrating and I guess that is why I keep coming back on the whole to the good old Women’s Weekly. This dessert received a miserable 2/10 for effort.

Until next week,

From my table to yours with love.

Spinach Pie

This delicious pie should not be assembled until you are ready to cook it as it will go soggy

1 bunch silverbeet (leaves only)
1 pkt baby spinach leaves
250 g cottage cheese (I used chive and onion flavour)
½ C parmesan cheese (grated)
2 leeks (white part only – sliced thinly)
180 g fetta (crumbled)
1 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
S & P
Filo pastry
1 tbsp pine nuts

Fry the leek and the pine nuts in a tablespoon of oil until leek is soft and pine nuts are coloured
Steam silverbeet adding the baby spinach towards the end. Drain and squeeze out all the water
Add the spinach to the leeks with nutmeg, cheeses and whisked eggs. Season with S & P
Layer ten sheets of filo over an oiled pie plate in a criss cross pattern. Fill the centre with the spinach mixture, folding the pastry over the mixture completely to create a rustic pie. Spray or brush with oil.
Bake at 180 degrees for 1¼ hours

Roast Pumpkin & Beetroot Salad

1 c green wheat freekah (or brown rice or pearl barley)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
800 g pumpkin (cut into thick wedges)
4 medium beetroots (peeled, cut into 2cm pieces)
50 g rocket leaves
½ c cashews (roasted)
mustard cress to garnish

Dressing

1 tbsp lemon grass (finely chopped)
¾ c greek yoghurt
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp ginger (finely grated)
½ tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 180° (160° fan forced). Line two baking trays with baking paper
Cook the freekah (rice or barley) according to instructions and allow to cool. Fluff with a fork.
Meanwhile, place the oil in a large bowl and add the ground coriander and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the pumpkin pieces and toss to coat, then transfer to one of the prepared trays.
Add the beetroot to the bowl and toss in the remaining oil . Transfer to the other prepared tray. Roast the beetroot and the pumpkin in the over for 40 minutes.

Dressing

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or jug.
Arrange the freekah (or rice/barley), rocket, beetroot and pumpkin on a serving plate, drizzle with dressing and top with the cashews and the cress.

Apple Bavarois with Burnt Honey Syrup

The Bavarois

1 tbsp gelatine powder
3 granny smith apples (peeled, cored and roughly chopped)
½ c castor sugar
4 egg yolks
1 c milk
300 ml thickened cream

Burnt Honey Syrup

¾ c honey
5 cloves

The Bavarois

Sprinkle the gelatine powder into ¼ cup of cold water and allow to stand for a few minutes. Place the apples and a few tablespoons of water into a saucepan, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the apples have softened. Remove from the heat and purée with a stick blender or mash with a potato masher, then stir through the gelatine and water mix. Return to medium heat and stir for about a minute until the gelatine has dissolved. Set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes.
Whisk the sugar and egg yolks together until they are thick and pale. combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer (watch carefully), then whisk the milk mixture into the egg mixture. Transfer the combined mixture back into the saucepan and stir over low heat for a few minutes, until the custard coats the back of a spoon.
Combine the apple mixture and the custard. Divide evenly among 8 ramekins and refrigerate for a least 4 hours, until set.

Burnt Honey Syrup

Combine the honey and cloves in a small saucepan and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the honey turns a deep amber colour. Remove from the heat and stir through a teaspoon of cold water if the honey is a little too thick
The serve, turn out the bavarois and drizzle with a little honey syrup.