Foraged nettle spanakopita
Spanakopita is a traditional Greek dish made with fresh greens and feta and layers of golden flaky filo pastry. It’s most often made with spinach but you can substitute with other fresh greens. Early springtime is great for foraging for nettles which are perfect for this dish as young nettles are sweet, nutritious and free!
I’ve made this spanakopita vegan by simply replacing the feta with a plant-based alternative. I’ve never come across a filo pastry that isn’t vegan but it’s worth checking before you buy.
Ingredients:
200g of nettles
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp roughly chopped mint
2 tbsp roughly chopped dill
2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
200g feta or plant-based equivalent (I used Violife Greek White)
One pack of filo pastry (around 250-270g), thawed in a refrigerator overnight if frozen
1 tbsp of olive oil plus extra for brushing the filo sheets
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
What you need to do:
First you’ll need to pick some nettles. You can often find nettles growing near old houses, in the corner of fields, on waste ground or in the quieter parts of our gardens and parklands. Make sure you wear some gardening or thick gloves and a thick long sleeved top to protect yourself from stings!
The best part of the nettle to use for cooking is the tip of the plant as this part is young and tender, so pinch off the top 10 cm or so. You’ll need quite a lot of nettles, 200g which is about a carrier bag full. There is 100g of nettles in the picture below, quite densely packed in the bowl, to give you an idea! If you find you don’t have quite enough when you get home, you can always add in some other greens such as spinach or kale.
Start by preheating your oven to 180°C and taking your filo pastry out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature.
Prepare your nettles by washing them well in water and then drying thoroughly.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or deep sauté pan and gently fry the chopped onion with a pinch of salt until softened.
Add the sliced spring onions and cook for another minute.
Remove the cooked onions from the pan into a large bowl and set aside.
Add the nettles to the pan and heat until just wilted. They don’t need to be cooked, just reduced in volume. You may need to do this in batches adding the wilted nettles into the bowl of onions before adding more nettles to the pan.
Mix together the nettles and onions and leave to cool. Once cooled, use a clean tea towel to press onto the mixture to absorb any liquid. It’s important that the mixture is quite dry so you don’t end up with soggy pastry!
Add your chopped herbs and lemon juice to the bowl of onion and nettles. I’ve used dill, flat-leaf parsley and mint which is traditional but you can use any mixture of these or other herbs to your own taste. However, I think these herbs give a lovely fresh taste to the spanakopita.
Crumble your feta cheese into the bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste and mix well until everything is combined. I used Violife Greek White which is a plant-based alternative to feta. It’s not quite as tangy or salty as feta cheese so I used more salt and lemon juice than you’d need if you used feta. There are also some great recipes online for home-made ‘feta’ made from tofu - I think I’ll try that next time!
Taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if needed.
Now you can assemble your pie!
Brush a smallish pan or dish with olive oil. Mine was 22cm x 15cm but the size doesn’t matter too much - the filling can be spread thinner or more thickly!
When working with filo pastry, it’s important to not let it dry out so cover the sheets with a damp tea towel once you have unrolled the sheets. I found it easiest to cut the rolled filo pastry to fit the length of the dish.
Line the dish with one sheet of filo and then brush with oil. Add more sheets, brushing oil on top of each layer, until you have used half the sheets. I alternated which way I placed the filo so I had pastry around all the edges.
Spread out your nettle mixture on the filo pastry and press with a spatula to flatten.
Roll the edges of your pastry inwards and then brush with oil. Then layer your remaining sheets on top brushing each sheet with oil, but this time folding them so that they don’t overhang.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of sesame seeds onto your assembled pie.
Score the top of the pie with a knife which will help when you want to cut the cooked pie into slices (don’t cut all the way through, just through the top filo sheets).
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until golden.
Allow the pie to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
It’s delicious served warm with a simple salad but it’s also great to have cold the next day!
Author: Denise Hope, home educating mum of two boys