Crispy Spring Greens Easter Pie Recipe

Search Google for Easter lunch ideas and you’ll be inundated with lamb recipes. No thanks, guys, we’re sticking to plants! Here’s a recipe for an easy, delicious Mediterranean-style pie inspired by a recipe from BBC Good Food that everyone will love. The crispy layers of pastry are irresistible and pairs beautifully with the filling of fresh spring greens. Spring greens are a favourite of ours this time a year – they are local, seasonal and cheap! The key to getting crispy layers is to make sure the layers are well oiled. Get that right and everyone will be fighting over those crispy pastry shards. Serve with a fresh salad and some nice crispy roast potatoes and your Easter lunch is sorted.

 

Total Time: 70 m I Prep: 10 m I Cook: 60 m I Difficulty: Moderate

 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 250g spring greens
• 175g sun-dried tomato
• 50g black olives, pitted and chopped
• 400g tin cannellini beans, drained
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Pinch of chilli flakes
• ½ bunch soft herbs (mint and/or parsley), roughly chopped
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• ½ 250g pack filo pastry (3-4 sheets)
• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds

 

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
• Strip the greens from the stems and add to a large pan. Pour over a couple tbsp water, then cook until just wilted. Tip into a sieve, leave to cool a little, then squeeze out the excess liquid and roughly chop. Roughly chop the tomatoes and olives and put into a bowl along with the greens, beans, lemon, chilli, spring onions and herbs. Mix well to lightly break up the beans. Season with a few pinches of salt and pepper.
• Carefully unroll the filo pastry. Cover with a tea towel to stop it drying out. Line the cake tin with a circle of parchment. Next, take a sheet of pastry and brush generously with oil (you can use some of the oil from the jar of tomatoes, if you wish). Drape oil-side down in a 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin so that some of the pastry hangs over the side. Brush oil on another piece of pastry and place in the tin, just a little further round. Keep placing the pastry pieces in the tin until you have roughly three layers, then spoon in the filling. Pull the sides into the middle, making sure the filling is covered and overlapping the layers of pastry. Brush the outside with a little more oil and sprinkle with the nigella seeds.
• Cook the pie for 30 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden brown, checking and rotating it halfway through to ensure it. Remove from the cake tin and slide off the parchment onto a serving board or platter. Slice into wedges and dig in.