Elliot Lewis

Once upon a time, Mum took a gap year in Greece. She cold called a private island resort hotel for famous people and told them she was a chef. She wasn’t, but got the job and bought a greek cook book in the airport in Kuala Lumpur en route. As one of the 5 employees on the island (two cleaners, a sailor, a guide and a chef), Mum sailed back and forth to the main island to get ingredients for whatever the celebrities wanted to eat. None of them were Greek, it was the perfect crime. This isn’t her recipe, but it’s nice!

Ingredients

• 1 kg of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 leek, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 medium green onions, white and pale green parts only, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, more if you aren’t scared of the dark
• salt and pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 250g of feta cheese
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup of basil, chopped
• 1/3 cup of dill
• 3 tablespoons of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 3/4 cup of salted butter, melted
• Filo pastry

Method

• Dewater/drain the thawed spinach. Transfer spinach to a large bowl and break up into small pieces.
• Heat oil in a large pan over medium and cook leek and onion, stirring, until just beginning to soften, 5–7 minutes. Add green onions and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender, 4–6 minutes more; season with salt and pepper. Scrape into bowl with spinach.
• Whisk egg, 1 tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper in a small bowl. Add to spinach mixture. Mix in feta, parmesan, basil, dill, oregano, and lemon zest.
• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Lightly brush bottom and sides of springform pan with butter. Remove filo from packaging and cover with a kitchen towel to prevent drying out. Working quickly, brush butter on 1 side of 1 filo sheet. Transfer filo, butter side up, to prepared pan, covering bottom of pan. Gently press and tuck sides of sheet into bottom edges of pan. Fold and ripple filo as needed to cover bottom of pan. Repeat with 2 more filo sheets.
• Working quickly, brush butter on 1 side of another filo sheet. Transfer to pan, arranging butter side up and slightly off-center so long side of dough comes up and over side of pan, leaving a 2″ overhang. Rotate pan slightly and repeat with another sheet so overhang covers another section of pan. Continue with remaining 7 sheets, rotating pan so there is overhang around entire pan.
• Scrape spinach mixture into pan, pressing down firmly and smoothing top. Gently fold filo overhang over spinach mixture and continue to press until filo goes just below rim of pan. Don’t worry if filo breaks or tears; gather any broken pieces and arrange where spinach peeks through. You want the filo to look draped over the top with lots of waves and folds.
• Bake pie until filo is golden brown and slightly darker around the edges, 50–65 minutes. Let cool in pan 1 hour before removing ring. Serve warm or at room temperature.