Zeljanica (cheese & spinach pie)
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- More effort
- Serves 9-12
Ingredients
- vegetable oil, for the tin
- 4 medium eggs
- 500g curd cheese, crumbled (this can be found in specialist shops), or use 250g ricotta mixed with 250g mascarpone
- 250g feta, crumbled
- 2 tbsp soured cream or crème fraîche
- 500g frozen spinach, defrosted and excess moisture wrung out in a clean tea towel
- 100ml olive oil
- 300ml natural yogurt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 500g filo pastry
- 20g unsalted butter
Method
- STEP 1
Lightly oil a roasting tin (ours was about 25 x 35cm and 4cm deep) and line with baking parchment. Mix the eggs, cheeses, soured cream or crème fraîche, spinach and some seasoning together in a bowl.
- STEP 2
In another bowl, mix together the oil, yogurt and baking powder. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
- STEP 3
Cut the filo sheets in half so they are roughly the size of the tin. Put one filo sheet in the tin and evenly brush over 1-2 tbsp of the yogurt mixture using pastry brush. Top with another filo sheet, brush over more yogurt mixture and repeat until you’ve used half the filo.
- STEP 4
Pour over the cheese filling, then gently spread it to the edges using a spatula. Continue layering the rest of the filo sheets and yogurt mix. Spread any remaining yogurt mix over the top of the final filo sheet.
- STEP 5
Cut the pie into squares (either nine or 12, depending on how big you want the pieces to be). Will keep frozen for up to a month. Defrost completely in the fridge overnight before cooking. Top each square with a small knob of butter, then bake for 20 mins. Reduce the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and bake for another 25-30 mins until browned on top. Leave to cool slightly before serving warm. Will keep covered and chilled for up to two days.
