Recipe from the depths of Jennee’s mind, photos from the camera, additional writing by me, Grazza McFilthy Mouth…

Spanakopita is some kind of Greek pie. It is rolled in filo pastry with a spinach-y cheesey filling. Basically it is kick-ass. A pie that has kept many a 70-something-year-old Greek man boned up and ready to go (and yes, that means what you think it means). I’m pretty sure my friend Helen over at Pantry Obsession will be commenting with a few actual facts about this magical pie so for now I think it is pretty safe for me to report what I think I know (aka. The facts). This stuff smells really good in the oven… heaps better then it would sitting in a carnies loot bag for three days in sideshow alley. The smells made me hungry. I was just glad it was the job of my children to continuously ask the fine woman who carried them in her womb and eventually pushed them into this world in one final… I’ll do you a favour and leave that one out for now. Needless to say, the boys were annoying the hell out of Jennee by continuously posing the question as to when dinner would be ready. Eventually the dinner was ready and we filled our bellies with this cracking spanakopita.

SPANAKOPITA

1 bunch of  perfectly ripe silverbeet (as oppose to overripe which would make it flaccid. Te he he), chopped into 1cm strips

2 cups ricotta, crumbled like the spirit of a first year apprentice chef

1 cup feta, grated or crumbled using only your teeth

½ cup grated pecorino, not pet a rhino – pecorino

2 eggs (not human eggs – I think they lack the “sticking” quality of chook eggs)

Grated nutmeg to your liking, ie. if it’s Christmas time add more for a nod to the festive season

Many sheets of filo pastry

Dried oregano to sprinkle over the top

• Mix all ingredients except the filo, that would make it mushy… and crap
• Roll out the filo sheets, one at a time, double them over and then place some mix along one side like you are making sausage rolls
• Roll up like a sausage
• Repeat until all the mix is gone
• Layer the sausages in a cake tin lined with baking paper and brush each sausage with olive oil lightly before you place the next sausage in
• You can do 3-4 layers or just 1
• Sprinkle dried oregano over the top like it was fairy dust
• Bake in oven at 180 degrees until golden brown
• Enjoy with friends, or in a dark corner of the house with only your tears for company
• We had ours with rocket and tomato pesto and a salad we made with things from the garden