Easter spinach pie popular in Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile

Spinach and ricotta pie

INGREDIENTS:
For a pie mold with a 23-24 cm diameter:
For the dough:
1 kg puff pastry or shortcrust butter pastry (pâte brisée)*

* You can find recipes for home-made puff pastry HERE and for the pâte brisée HERE. If you use these recipes prepare double doses. I used puff pastry.

For the filling:
500 g spinach
500 g dock or mangold leaves (can be replaced with spinach)
4-5 green onions
300 g ricotta
100 g grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
6 boiled eggs

For spreading:
1 yolk
1 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon olive oil

PREPARATION:
The filling
Boil 6 eggs for about 5-6 minutes and dip them into cold water immediately to halt the cooking. Peel them once they are cooled.
Rinse the spinach, dock and green onion and cut them into small pieces. Put them in a deep pan with the olive oil and cook until they wilt. Remove from the heat and leave them to cool. Add the ricotta, grated parmesan, eggs, nutmeg, black pepper and salt and stir to combine.

Roll the pastry out so that it is 5-6 mm thick and cut two circles out of it – one as big as the mold that you will use to bake the pie and the other one wider than the first by as many centimeters as you want the pie to be in height. I used a cake mold with a removable bottom.

Spinach and ricotta pie

Put the bigger circle into the mold and form the walls as shown below.

Spinach and ricotta pie

Fill it up with the filling and place the boiled eggs onto it, pressing down so that they go into it.

Spinach and ricotta pie

Cover using the second circle of pastry, pressing along the edge so that the pie gets fully closed. Optionally you can also decorate using elements cut out from the remaining dough. Here is my decoration:

Spinach and ricotta pie

Spread beaten yolk, milk and olive oil onto it and bake in a pre-heated oven at 190°C for about 45-50 minutes. Cover with tin foil once it browns on the top and continue baking.

Spinach and ricotta pie

Spinach and ricotta pie

Spinach and ricotta pie

Spinach and ricotta pie