Green vegetable and feta pie

Crisp, golden pastry with a light butter bean, greens and feta filling make this perfect for a summer dinner. Nothing goes to waste in Dr Rupy’s recipe. It’s the tastiest way to eat loads of greens.

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 head spring greens, shredded
• 2 courgettes (roughly 350g/12oz), grated
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 400g tin butter beans, drained
• 400g/14oz frozen spinach, defrosted and drained thoroughly
• 2 free-range eggs, beaten
• 150g/5½oz feta, crumbled
• 1 lemon, finely grated zest only
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried mint
• pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
• 200g/7oz filo pastry
• 30g/1oz butter, melted
• pinch sesame seeds
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat a splash of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and add the spring greens and a pinch of salt. Fry for 4-5 minutes, until softened and slightly caramelised. Tip onto a plate lined with a couple of sheets of kitchen paper and leave to cool.

2. Add a little more oil to the pan, then fry the courgettes and garlic for 2–3 minutes, until softened. Add to the plate with the spring greens and cover with more kitchen paper. Put a second plate on top and press down to squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible.

3. Tip into a large bowl and add the butter beans, spinach, eggs, feta, lemon zest, herbs and nutmeg, if using. Give everything a good stir, breaking up the butter beans as you mix. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

5. Grease the inside of a non-stick, oven-proof frying pan with olive oil and lay a sheet of filo on top. Drizzle with oil, then top with a second sheet of filo, laid at a right angle to the first. Continue layering the filo in alternate directions, drizzling with oil between each sheet, until you’ve used up all the pastry.

6. Spoon the filling into the middle of the pastry, then gather the edges in the centre and press together to seal, using oil to help. Brush all over with the melted butter, making sure the surface is completely covered and allowing any excess butter to run down the edges. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

7. Set the pan over a medium-high heat and cook for 2–3 minutes until the underside of the pastry starts to turn golden-brown. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes until golden and crisp.

8. Leave the pie to cool slightly, then slide onto a board and slice into wedges to serve.

Recipe Tips

The most important step in this recipe is squeezing out as much excess moisture as possible from the vegetables. It’ll intensify their flavour and help to av0id a soggy bottomed pie.

You can use any kind of tender greens: kale, chard, even tired salad leaves like rocket.

You can freeze the uncooked pie if you use filo that has not previously been frozen. Use a 23cm cake tin (or make two smaller free-form pies on a baking tray), then bake from frozen for the time specified + 15 minutes. Always check the filling is piping hot before serving.

Use the remaining 50g of feta crumbled on my aubergine and black bean bowl.

Green vegetable and feta pie