What haven’t I done before?

1. Made spinach and feta pies even though my boyfriend loves them.
2. Cheated and used bought pre-made gluten free shortcrust pastry.
3. Looked more deeply into the herbs/spices I’m using. Therefore, I’m going to give a few key facts about the herbs/spices I use so I learn more from now on. Nutmeg, the key spice (I just learnt that it is a spice) in my recipe, comes from Indonesia. It is the source of 2 different spices, the other being mace, is grown on trees and used in powder format.

Ingredients (serves 4):

250g x Gluten free shortcrust pastry (it’s hard to find but I got mine from Wholefoods)
1 x Red onion, diced
1 x Garlic glove, diced
250g x Fresh spinach, washed well
1 x Tsp grated nutmeg (but this makes it quite strong so use at your own discretion)
1 x Tbsp grated Parmesan
2 x Eggs
150g x Crumbled feta (save a little to crumble over the top before baking)
Oregano
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Sauté the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and wilt all the spinach. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat and add a knob of butter – let it melt.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
3. In a large mixing bowl, crack in the eggs, nutmeg, crumbled feta, Parmesan, 0.5 teaspoon of both salt and pepper and a full teaspoon of dried oregano. Whisk until combined.
4. Between two pieces of clingfilm, roll the pastry until approximately 5mm thin. Cut according to the pie dishes you have. I managed two small, but deep, pie dishes with 250g of pastry. Grease the pie dishes, line with pastry, use a fork to put small holes all over the pastry, fill with baking beans and then repeat with the second pie. Put in the freezer for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, put the pie dishes on a baking tray and blind bake in the oven for 15-minutes until the pastry is cooked. Let the beans cool before you remove.
6. When it is safe to remove the beans, fill the pies with the spinach and feta filling. Crumble any remaining feta on the top, sprinkle with a little oregano and bake for 20 – 25 minutes depending on the depth of your dishes. Keep checking that the middle is hot before serving.