recipes@decwrl.UUCP (02/06/87)
Copyright (C) 1987 USENET Community Trust Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the USENET copyright notice and the title of the newsgroup and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the USENET Community Trust or the original contributor. .RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE SPINACH-PASTRY MV "18 Nov 86" 1987 .RZ "SPINACH CHEESE CASSEROLE IN PUFF PASTRY" "Spinach and cheeses in a puff pastry crust" A recipe of this type appeared in .I "Cuisine" Magazine. The dish is hearty enough to be a main course, but can also be a side dish to a meat entr\z\(aae. .IH "Serves 4 to 6" .IG "10 oz" "chopped spinach" "300 g" (fresh or frozen) .IG "1 cup" "cottage or ricotta cheese" "250 g" .IG "1 cup" "feta cheese" "350 g" (crumbled, and drained of any brine) .IG "\(14 cup" "grated parmesan or romano cheese" "50 g" .IG "\(14 cup" "chopped scallions" "15 g" .IG "4" "large eggs" .IG "2 Tbsp" "butter" "25 g" .IG "pinch" "salt" .IG "pinch" "pepper" .IG "12 oz" "puff pastry" "400 g" (frozen pastry thawed to room temperature, or homemade) .PH .SK 1 Preheat oven to .TE 350 175 . Cook the spinach in boiling water. Drain, rinse with cool water, and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. .SK 2 Melt the butter in a small skillet. Cook the scallions until slightly soft. .SK 3 In a large mixing bowl, combine the cheeses and the eggs. Mix well. Add the spinach, the butter and scallions, the salt and pepper and mix again. .SK 4 Lightly butter the bottom and sides of .AB "an 8-in" "a 20-cm" square baking dish. .SK 5 Roll out a sheet of puff pastry on a floured surface to make a .AB "14-in" "35-cm" square. Roll out a second sheet to make a .AB "9-in" "22-cm" square. .SK 6 Lay the bigger pastry sheet in the buttered dish, draping the extra pastry over the edges. .SK 7 Spread the spinach and cheese mixture evenly in the dish. .SK 8 Put the remaining pastry sheet on top. Trim excess pastry if necessary and seal the edges closed. Use scraps of pastry dough to decorate the top of the pie. Brush top with additional melted butter if desired. .SK 9 Bake for 45 minutes at .TE 350 175 or until pastry is golden brown. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. .NX The casserole may be prepared through step 3, then covered and refrigerated for up to 8 hours. .PP As an alternative to puff pastry, you might try using sheets of filo dough, overlapped to make the bottom and top crusts. I have also baked this dish in a pie pan using filo dough. One way to cut down on the calories in this dish is to omit the bottom crust entirely. This is a very flexible recipe. Other vegetables can be substituted for the spinach, and other ingredients like saut\z\(aaeed garlic and mushrooms can be added. .SH RATING .I Difficulty: moderate. .I Time: 30 minutes preparation, 1 hour baking and cooling. .I Precision: approximate measurement OK. .WR Robin Harris Foster AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft New Jersey, USA ihnp4!mtuxo!rfoster "The apple never falls far from the tree"