My son D. is leaving home at the end of the month to live on his own in Manhattan! With the excitement of a new life comes the anxiety of “real” life.
After living for four years in a dorm at university, he learned how to clean and iron his clothes, so this is not the issue. The big issue is how to feed himself in a healthy and affordable way. I promised him to post a few easy recipes on my blog to help him take the big step. So I’m starting with my spinach pie – it’s actually a revisited version of my mom’s spinach pie – his favorite savory pie.
Prep time: 45 min – the filling can be prepared the day before.
Baking time: 1 hour
Serving: 4 people
Ingredients:
6 large eggs
2 lb – 1 kg Spinach
18 oz – 500 g Mushrooms
10 oz – 300 g bacon – or any substitute for vegetarians.
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 sheets of puff pastry
Salt/pepper
1- Position the rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
2- Boil the eggs to medium-hard. Place the eggs in the bottom of the saucepan and fill with cold water, 1 inch above the eggs. Bring the water to a boil then cover with a lid. Remove the pan from the heat and set the timer for 8-9 min. Do not lift the lid. Once ready, remove the eggs with tongs or a slotted spoon. Immerse the eggs in cold water to stop the cooking process. Peel away the shell, rinse the eggs to remove any bits of shell, and dry them. Cut into slices with a sharp knife or an egg slicer and put aside.
3- Boil water in a pan and blanch the spinach for two minutes. Drain in a colander and let rest. It’s better to scoop up the spinach with a slotted spoon, as there may be sand deposits at the bottom of the pan.
4- Remove the stems of the mushrooms, clean the mushrooms with a kitchen towel. The mushrooms are not supposed to be washed with water as they are like a sponge and absorb the water. I must confess that if they are too dirty I do wash them quickly under running water. Once clean, cut them into slices.
5- Fry the mushrooms in a nonstick skillet and let them release the water. Once cooked, pour them in a colander to rest.
6- Cut the bacon into small pieces. Fry them in the frypan used for the mushrooms without adding any fat – bacon has enough fat. Once the bacon bits are cooked without reaching the crispy level, remove them, and let them rest on a paper towel. This will absorb the remaining fat.
7- Remove the fat from the skillet; pour it into a jar that you will discard. Don’t clean the frypan; the remaining fat will serve to cook the spinach.
8- Pour the spinach in the frypan and cook, stirring well until they melt. Drizzle with nutmeg. Add the mushroom and the bacon and stir all together for at least 20 min or until the water evaporates.
9- Take a pie plate with a diameter of 11 inch (28 cm) – or square if your dough is square, roll the dough out into the pie dish. Put baking paper underneath the dough; it makes it easier to remove it from the pie pan. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Cover the base of the pie crust with the egg slices, salt, and pepper.
10- Spread the filling evenly in the tart shell.
11- Cover the preparation with the other puff pastry sheet. Seal the rim of the dough and make a little hole in the middle to let the steam evaporate. That way the bottom of the dough will not be soggy.
12- Bake the tart for one hour or until the dough is nicely browned. Serve it warm or at room temperature.
The spinach pie makes a great tasty dinner and an easy lunch to take out for school or office.
