Subject: RECIPE: Spinach-cheese pastry
From: rfoster@mtuxo (Robin Harris Foster)
Date: 6 Feb 87 04:50:10 GMT
Newsgroups: mod.recipes

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.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"