Janet's Spinach Pie

Sometimes I just like to make children cry.

Well, that's not true...but what other explanation could there be for someone making SPINACH PIE?

I mean...it's PIE! But there's spinach in it.

Oh, children. I'm so very sorry...but not really.

Because, to grown-ups who like spinach, this pie tastes just a little bit like heaven.

The recipe is from one of my all-time favorite cooking muses: The Barefoot Contessa. This woman is shameless with her use of cheese and butter and things that will kill you fo' sho'. But, oh, what a way to go!

In the past, I followed her recipe to make individual spinach pies, kind of like little pockets of spinach goodness. But Thursday was such an insane day, I barely had time to dump the filling into four pie plates (one for each Better Halves family), pull the puff pastry dough over the whole mess, and throw it in the oven.

And you know what? I kind of liked this version better!

Finally, if you're busy like me and don't care about whether or not you burn down your house, just throw these pies in the oven while you run out to deal with your over-scheduled life. Ask your backdoor neighbor to watch for flames shooting out of your kitchen windows, and make sure you're back within the hour to take the (perfectly baked!) pies out of the oven. (whew!)

Now, here's that recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions) (Um, NO. I left that foolishness OUT. -Don't. like. onions.)
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil (Yes, please!)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt (I actually used about half of this. Too much dang salt, Ina Garten.)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
• 6 extra-large eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 pound good feta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
• 1/4 pound butter, melted
• 6 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted (NO. I just used puff pastry. Seems way easier to me. Maybe not so authentic, but I don't care. I'm looking for easy, baby. Easy!)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium saute pan on medium heat, saute the onions with the olive oil until translucent and slightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and allow to cool slightly. (Onion haters say NO.)


Squeeze out and discard as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible. Put the spinach into a bowl and then gently mix in the onions, eggs, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, feta, and pignoli.


Butter an ovenproof, nonstick, 8-inch saute pan and line it with 6 stacked sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with melted butter and letting the edges hang over the pan. (Use puff pastry and skip all of that "brush with butter" business and get to the pie-eating that much faster.)

(Roll out your puff pastry on a flour-dusted surface so that it's large enough to cover a pie plate with plenty extra hanging off the sides.) Pour the spinach mixture into the middle of the phyllo (puff pastry) and neatly (or not-so neatly) fold the edges up and over the top to seal in the filling. Brush the top well with melted butter (and sprinkle a little shredded parmesan on just for pretty!). Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and the filling is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Serve it up and watch the children cry.

But it is SOOO good, you will be able to block out the sounds of their tears with the sounds of your own "Yum! Yum! YUM!"

(Serve with pita and hummus so the kids don't starve to death...)