Alevropita, Greek Feta Bake

I love Spanakopita, but cannot be bothered with brushing innumerable sheets of filo with olive oil.  So this simple 'toad' in the hole style traybake has all the flavour and none of the hassle.  The traditional Alevropita recipe has just feta, but I thought to add spinach (and a few more flavourings) to make it healthier.

Serves 4

250g wilted baby leaf or chopped spinach (optional)

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

150g plain or self raising flour

200ml milk

2 free range eggs

1/4 tsp salt

150g crumbled feta

1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed (optional)

1 tsp dried Greek oregano or thyme (optional)

Wilt spinach in a little water, pour into a sieve and leave to cool and drain.

Preheat the oven to 170C Fan/190C together with a baking dish with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Whisk flour, milk, eggs, and salt together into a smooth batter.  Add garlic and oregano if using and mix thoroughly

When the oven has reached temperature, take out the baking dish and carefully swirl the hot oil around the sides.  Pour the batter into the hot oil, then scatter over the feta and spinach. Swirl this into the batter and drizzle over another tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crispy on top.  Serve with a Greek Salad (minus the feta).

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Kolokythopita, Greek Butternut Squash Puff Pastry Pie

This one pan Greek butternut squash pie is made a lot easier replacing filo pastry with puff pastry.

Serves 4

1 pack puff pastry
1kg butternut squash, peeled & cut into small cubes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 red chilli, seeded & finely diced

1 tbsp greek oregano or thyme 

1 large garlic clove, peeled & crushed

200g feta cheese, drained & cubed

Preheat the oven to 200C

Place the butternut squash on a large baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil and roast for 30 minutes until the squash is tender then remove from the oven to cool.  

When the butternut squash is cool enough to handle turn the oven bacon to 180C, and  mix the onion, garlic, chilli, herbs, and feta together on the baking sheet.

Unroll the pastry, keeping it on the greaseproof paper. With a long side facing you, slide/pull the pastry away from you so that 1/3rd of the greaseproof paper is showing at the front. Carefully tip your mixed filling along the middle of the pastry then pull the top long edge down over the filling to line up with the bottom long edge (like a long sausage roll), and crimp closed with a fork. Make diagonal slashes in the top with nothing more than the weight of a very sharp knife. But don't worry you puncture the casing.

Wipe the baking tray with some kitchen roll then lift the pie on it's greaseproof paper onto the baking tray. bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with a crisp green salad.

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Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

I started off thinking I was going to make a vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with soya mince, but a harvest of homegrown squash changed my mind/ingredients to squash and lentil.

This can be made vegan by using plant based spread, milk, and cheese in the mashed potato topping. And swapping Marmite for Worcestershire Sauce.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large stick of celery, diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
500g squash, swede, or parsnips, peeled and grated
1 can green lentils, or 150g green lentils cooked as per instructions
500g passata
500ml just boiled water
1 vegetable stock cube 

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1kg white potatoes
Large knob of butter
Whole milk

50g grated mature cheddar

Sweat the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil for about 10 minutes with the lid. Add the garlic and grated vegetables and gently fry for another 10 minutes, making sure they don't catch on the bottom of the pan.

Add passata, lentils, water and crumbled stock cube.  Bring to the boil then simmer with a lid on for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Stir from time to time to make sure the pan is not drying out, adding more boiled water if it is.

Roughly chop the potatoes.  I leave the skins on, but my kids aren't keen on this timesaving approach.  Pour over boiling water, cover,  and boil for 10 minutes with a little salt until the potatoes are soft.  When soft, drain and mash with the butter and milk until you have a spreadable mash.

Pour the lentil & vegetable base into a lasagna dish.  Plop spoonfuls of mash over the mix to cover the surface.  Rough the potato up with a fork or a spoon to help it brown in the oven.  Sprinkle over cheese and bake for 40 minutes at 200C or until the liquid from the vegetable mix is bubbling up round the sides of the potato.  If not browned to your taste, place the pie under the grill watching it very carefully if you do.

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Root Vegetable Crumble

I am new to Melissa Hemsley's vegetable recipes, having seen a repost of her Cavolo Nero & Celeriac Cheddar Crumble recipe a week or so ago.

As a celeriac lover this recipe caught my eye, but I didn't read the recipe properly when shopping and went a bit off message with the ingredients.

I loved it, but as my version contained 3 of my kids vegetable pet hates, it was a bit of a long shot and I gave them the choice of making themselves something else for dinner if preferred. They made themselves a wrap.

Serves 4

1 small celeriac, peeled and cubed
1 small swede, peeled and cubed

200g potatoes, cleaned and cubed

1 onion, peeled and diced

Large handful of shredded greens eg kale, spinach. I used allotment grown sprouts

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1-2 tsp olive oil

50g plain flour

100g cheddar cheese

2 tbsp dijon or English mustard

500ml whole milk

120g whole oats

40g chopped nuts or seeds

50g cold butter, cubed

Place the chopped swede into a covered pan of boiling salted water. After 10 minutes add the potatoes. Add the celeriac 10 minutes after the water comes back the boil, and boil for another 5 minutes. Drain and leave to steam in your baking dish.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a saucepan and soften the onion and garlic over a medium low heat, when translucent (or starting to brown) and add your greens to wilt. Splash over a little water to help them steam if not wet from washing. When wilted, tip over your root veg.

Using the same saucepan, add the cold milk, flour, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Whisk quickly over a medium heat to combine the flour into the milk (flour goes lumpy in hot milk so whisk as soon as you add the flour to the cold milk in the pan). Change to a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula with a flat edge and stir the white sauce constantly to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once it starts to thick turn the heat down to low and stir in the mustard, seasoning, and cheese (keeping a handful back to sprinkle on top).

If your saucepan is big enough, tip the vegetables from the baking tray back in to the saucepan to mix in the sauce. If not, pour the sauce over the vegetables in the baking tray and mix in carefully.

Rub the oats, nuts, and butter together with your fingers until the mixture looks like large breadcrumbs and the butter lumps are no bigger than the oak flakes. Sprinkle evenly over the vegetables in the cheese sauce in your baking tray and then sprinkle the remaining cheese over.

Bake at 200C for 20 minutes in a preheated oven until bubbling. You may wish to grill it for the last few minutes to brown the crumble, but watch it like a hawk if you do.

I try it with a pangrattato topping next time, as the oat topping was a little chewy. But it may have to wait till the kids leave home. 

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Leek & Potato Pie

The idea for this pie came from Jamie Oliver's Sausage & Mash Pie, however, my son has recently become a vegetarian and I didn't want to feed the family his vegetarian sausages so I left out the meat and based my pie on my Leek & Potato Soup

Serves 4

1.2kg white potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 stick of celery, diced

1 large clove of garlic

600ml milk

4 tbsp flour

3 tsp English Mustard

Salt & pepper

Peel and roughly chop the potatoes. Boil in salted water for 15 minutes. When cooked, drain and mash with 2 tbsp of plain flour. Leave to cool.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking, soften the leeks in the olive oil in a covered saucepan over a medium low heat for about 20 minutes. The add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and continue to soften for another 20 minutes. Then tip into a bowl while you make the white sauce.

Put the saucepan back on the heat. Pour in the milk, 1 tbsp of olive oil,  and whisk in 2 tbsp of flour. Once whisked in, change to a wooden spoon with a flat bottom and stir the sauce constantly, making sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan, until it starts to thicken. Once it starts to thicken, turn the heat down low and continue stirring for a few more minutes. Add the vegetables back, and stir in the mustard. Turn the heat off whilst you make the 'pastry'.

Place about 1/3 of the mashed potato onto a sheet of greaseproof paper.  Flatten it out with your hands to about 1cm thick and just bigger than your baking dish.  Grease the baking dish with a little olive oil then press the remaining mash across the base and up the sides. Spoon in the leeks and sauce into the mash lined dish and gently flip the mash lid onto the baking dish and peel off the greaseproof paper. Press the edges down with a fork to sea. Brush lightly with olive oil

Bake for 40 minutes at 200C until golden brown. Serve with something green!

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