Recipe: Filo tart of mixed greens and feta

Winter’s fabulously bitter leafy greens (of which chard is here the star, ably supported by cavolo nero) have their edge smoothed out by baking them with cheese.

 

The ratio of nutritious to comforting is just right. You could happily switch round the proportions of the greens here. Or swap in whatever leaves you have hanging around – spinach, kale, beetroot tops, turnip tops, collard greens – they’d all be just as lovely, just as green.

 

Serves 6 as a main

 

Ingredients

• 400g chard
• 200g cavolo nero
• 1 medium onion
• 4tbs olive oil
• ½ orange
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 200g feta
• 40g leafy herbs (any mix of dill, mint, coriander, parsley)
• 1 tbsp honey
• Nutmeg, for grating
• 1tbs plain flour
• 4 sheets of filo pastry
• Salt and black pepper

 

Method

 

Separate the stalks and the leaves of the chard and cavolo nero. Trim and finely chop all the stalks. Wash all the leaves, drain and shred.

 

Peel and chop the onion. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a deep frying pan. Gently cook the onion until just about softening, then add the chopped stalks. Season, squeeze in the juice of the orange half, stir round and cook for 10 minutes until soft. Add the cinnamon, then the shredded leaves. Cook for five minutes to wilt, then take off the heat. Let it cool a little before spooning into a fine sieve set over a sink or bowl to drain away any excess liquid.

 

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Crumble in the cheese. Chop the herbs and add too, keeping just a few back for garnish. Mix well, adding the honey and a good grating of nutmeg. Add the drained chard mix and combine thoroughly. Taste before seasoning. This can be done ahead of time.

 

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan. Brush the cake tin with some of the remaining oil and dust with the flour. Lay one sheet of filo in the base, overhanging the sides. Brush it with oil, then lay another sheet of filo on top, going crossways to cover the other sides of the tin. Oil and repeat with two more sheets. Fill with the cheesy greens filling. Bring up the overhanging pastry and scrunch to form an edge to the pie (not a lid). Bake for 25 minutes until the pastry edges are golden.

 

Cool in the tin for five minutes, then remove and serve warm or at room temperature with the reserved chopped herbs scattered over.

 

Waste tips

 

Feta cheese Don’t throw away the brine from feta. It is salty and creamy with a lactic edge that makes it a lovely addition to salad dressings, as a marinade for meat, or added into the water when boiling rice.

 

Filo pastry sheets These freeze (or even re-freeze) well, but if I am left with just a few I often make sweet filo crisps: Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Lay on it a piece of filo, brush with melted butter, sift over icing sugar and perhaps a little ground cinnamon, and repeat with two more layers. Give the top layer of pastry a thicker dusting of icing sugar, cut into strips/squares andtease them slightly apart, then bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve warm or store in an airtight container for up to two days.

 

Soft herbs The leaves and/or stalks of soft herbs can be blitzed into herb-infused oils. Blanch herb sprigs for barely 10 seconds in very hot water, then run under cold water and delicately dry in a cloth. Put the herbs – stalk and all – into a blender with the oil. Two or three bushy sprigs per 150ml oil. Blitz, then strain through a fine sieve or muslin. Pour into a sterilised bottle and store out of direct sunlight.

 

I like to put a fresh (blanched) sprig of the chosen herb in the bottle. For prettiness as much as to remind me what it is. (I seldom remember to label them, but I know that I should and so should you.)

 

Seasoning: How to Cook and Celebrate the Seasons By Angela Clutton (Murdoch Books, £30)