Recipe and Images by Fiona Hugues
There was a French bakery in the big city a couple of decades ago that made great take home pies before imperious Francophiles appeared everywhere and ruined many of our gluttonous French gourmet secrets. Prior to being discovered by the masses, we’d whip into the tiny bakery and buy the decadent pastry-clad creations they made to covertly take home and serve to our wanderlust guests to great, but totally undeserved, applause. It was a brilliant slothful entertaining trick until popularity blew our cover. Sadly, the bakery no longer exists, but in desperation I’ve since conjured a rendition of their fabulous vegetarian pie version. She’s stuffed full of meltingly great amounts of Popeye pleasing creamy spinach, sauteed mushrooms and sweet onions littered with woodsy pinenuts. Encased in buttery pastry, it’s just gorgeous at this time of year when greens aren’t in abundance, so you can virtuously eat a decent whack with a very valid excuse. I bought my fancy cookie cutters at a cook shop in San Fransico, but you can find plenty at www.sweetpeaparties.co.nz. It freezes wonderfully, so make a few while you’re at it.
1 x 500g pack savoury short pastry sheets (I used Paneton)
2 medium brown onions, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
350g mix of portobello mushrooms, sliced, and brown mushrooms, quartered
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup white wine
500g pack frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
300g baby spinach leaves
½ cup crème fraîche
1 cup ricotta
60g pinenuts, toasted
1 egg, beaten
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Preheat oven to 180°C.
In a large frying pan over a medium heat add the olive oil and onions and cook until golden.
Add the mushrooms and garlic, season well, and cook until the mushrooms are softened. Add the wine and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the thawed spinach and spinach leaves and cook until warm and wilted before stirring through the crème fraîche and ricotta. Sprinkle over the pinenuts and stir to combine. Taste and season again (it will need it). Set aside to cool.
With spray oil, grease a 24cm springform cake tin. Line with pastry sheets with a 1cm overhang around the edge, pressing the joins neatly together so there are no gaps. Pile in the filling. Brush beaten egg around the rim and place on a top sheet of pastry, pressing the perimeter edges together with fingers and thumb to completely seal. Brush the entire top with beaten egg and then (if going to the effort) lay on your cookie cutter pastry decorations. Brush the decorated part with beaten egg and cut a couple of small holes in the centre of the pie with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 35–40 minutes or until pastry is cooked and golden.
