I went running this morning and aferward, I had that rare (and great) feeling to continue to exercise because it felt so good. So I went into the gym where I live to ride the stationary bike and the TV was tuned into a cooking show – I wish I knew which one, but I didn’t recognize it. The woman was making a Greek version of a meat pie with Phyllo dough. I didn’t write anything down (as I was in the middle of a work-out), but it looked so yummy that later that day I made my own version – of course with a Sicilian spin. I’m calling it Beef and Spinach Pie. It was so beautiful that I only had to take a couple pictures to find one that looked gorgeous.
Nina’s Beef and Spinach Pie
1 lb ground beef
about 1/2 c olive oil
4 beaten eggs
1 chopped onion
about 3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 c shredded or grated romano or parmesan cheeze – as usual I prefer pecorino parmesan
2 tbls crushed fresh garlic
a bunch of chopped italian parsley (the flat kind)
kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste
optional: a couple splashes of wine
- Coat medium to large fry pan with olive oil and cook onions on medium heat until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds- don’t let it burn.
- Add ground beef and parsley (and turn up heat a little) and cook until brown.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you’d like to add a little wine, now’s a good time to do it.
- When the mixture is cooked enough that the flavors have merged, add the spinach and it won’t take very long before the leaves reduce and blend in nicely with everything.
- Now set aside and let cool.
- You are going to need about 10 sheets of ready-to-use Phyllo dough. Please don’t let that scare you – it’s so easy to use.
- Brush each piece with olive oil and layer them this way: put a few horizontal to start and then start putting the others vertical and diagonal, using the horizontal pieces as the center. It really doesn’t have to be perfect as you are just going to end up folding it all into the middle.
- OK, now put the whole crust over the top of the baking dish and push the center part down into the bottom of the dish with the other layers hanging over the sides.
- Back to the meat mixture…Add some parmesan cheese to the beaten eggs and add that to the meat mixture. Mix together well.
- Pour half the mixture over the phyllocrust in the baking dish. Add half the mozzarella cheese and then repeat until everthing’s in the baking dish.
- Now simply fold all the Phyllo layers toward the middle to cover the mixture.
- Bake at 350 until golden brown- about 30 – 40 minutes. Let cool a bit before slicing.
Serving suggestion: You can have this hot or cold. I think it works best as a side dish or hor doeuveres.
Enjoy!
Leave a Reply