Feta & Spinach Filo Pie

This hearty savoury pie is perfect warm served with steamed greens in winter or cold with a salad selection in summer.
It takes about 30 minutes to prep and 30 - 40 in the oven.
Ingredients:
900g/2Lb of washed Spinach
100g/3.5oz Unsalted butter (room temp) plus extra for greasing.
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
2 red onions chopped
60g/2oz dried apricots (chopped)
60g/2oz Pine nuts toasted till golden
6 sheets of filo sheets
salt &  pepper to season
300g/10.5oz Feta cheese (crumbled)
The Preparation:

1.Wash the spinach thoroughly and drain well. This will seem like a mountain of spinach, but don't worry it will wilt down.

 2. Using your biggest pot add batches of the washed spinach to about two cups of water, adding hand fulls of more spinach as the wilted spinach makes more room in the pot.

 

3. Drain the spinach in a colander  and allow to cool.

 

4.When cool enough to handle with out burning your hands, drain the spinach further- my tip is to use a sieve and any flat surfaced pot or measuring cup to press the water from the spinach.

 

5. Place the drained spinach on a clean chopping board and chop thoroughly.

 6. Next line a greased 8"/20cm spring form tin with the filo sheets. Using a brush to cover the sheets with melted butter as you lay one on top of the other at. don't trim the excess, you will fold this in later to make the top.

 7. Now saute the chopped onions in about 25g of butter (Be careful not to burn the butter). When golden and soft add the cumin, coriander and cinnamon together with the pine nuts and apricots. heat gently to infuse the flavors.

 8. Once the onions and spices are mixed well, add the chopped spinach and season with salt and pepper (be generous with the seasoning, this dish can take it)

 9. Pack the mixture in to your empty filo pie case and pack down using a wooden spoon.

 10. Crumple the feta in to the pie covering the compressed spinach and onion filling add some pepper to the feta to enhance the flavour.

 11. Fold the excess filo sheets in on top of each other, brushing each sheet with soft butter before covering with the next sheet.

11. Place in a pre heated oven at 200f for about 30 - 40 minutes or until colden. when done leave to cool for 10 minutes before releasing from the spring form tin.

 Serve hot or cold depending on the season and your taste. It's really nice with a mix of salads or a spicy relish. enjoy!