Sunday, 24 November 2013
Reci-pie Review: Spinach Sun Pie
Spinach Pie Recipe
I’m not officially a Pierateer but I do hop aboard as Ship’s Cook from time to time, so I’m setting sail on a quest to get people making their own pies at home. I’ve made it my mission to bake (and eat) pies, testing out recipes so you don’t have to.
I’m not officially a Pierateer but I do hop aboard as Ship’s Cook from time to time, so I’m setting sail on a quest to get people making their own pies at home. I’ve made it my mission to bake (and eat) pies, testing out recipes so you don’t have to.
I won't be giving points to the pies I make, but I
will be talking about the Seven C's so you can decide which recipes are the
ones for you.
My very first pie recipe is one that I made for a
recent gathering which included some of the Pierateers and a few extra crew members who had been drafted in.
The recipe:
I found this pie on the Italian Chips blog. Ana, the author, links to the
original recipe which is in Italian, so if you’re a bit of a linguaphile you
can use that and if not, here’s the one I used:
You can probably see why I couldn’t resist trying this
one! And don’t worry, it still meets the criteria for being a pie as the middle
section is fully encased in pastry top, sides and base.
I’ve never made pastry with wine before, and the
closest comparison I can think of is that it’s a lot like pizza dough but
without the need for proving. If you’re used to shortcrust pastry (or any other
type made with a base of butter and flour) this will taste different, but it
goes very well with the filling and the doughy consistency is necessary for the
slightly more difficult step – shaping the pie.
I was a bit concerned that my pie was going to end up
looking like a squashed octopus, but I’m glad to say that it didn’t! Both the
pastry and the filling are very durable, so the cutting and folding was pretty
simple. By leaning the ‘rays’ against each other the whole thing was made extra
stable ready to go in the oven. Definitely follow the instructions and build
the pie on the baking tray – the finished article is quite big and it would be
difficult to transfer it after it’s made!
Colour:
The pastry in this recipe can take a while to turn a
dark golden colour, but that’s easily fixed by leaving it in the oven for a bit
longer. I was a concerned about burning the exposed filling on the edges but
that didn’t turn out to be a problem, it just meant that the edges were lovely
and crispy.
Consistency:
There’s no gravy in this pie as that would cause some
serious structural problems. However, I thought the filling had a nice smooth
consistency thanks to the ricotta and egg, and as spinach is fairly watery
anyway it isn’t too dry or stodgy.
Capacity:
What can I say? In this recipe you mould the pastry
around the filling, so this this scores very highly for capacity (especially if
you eat the middle section).
Chewiness:
There’s no meat in this pie so you don’t have to worry
about chewiness. The filling is lovely – soft, smooth and with a little bit of
texture from the spinach. Yum.
Cheapness:
For people who do a lot of baking and already have
salt, flour, oil, eggs and probably wine in their kitchen, this is a very cheap
recipe as I only spent £3.20 on the filling. It also gives you a way to use up
stale bread as breadcrumbs. Even if you do have to buy all the ingredients you
could feed six – eight people a decent portion of this pie with some mash and
vegetables, so overall it’s very good value for money.
Content:
Spinach and ricotta might not be the most original
choice for a vegetarian option, but it’s a classic for a reason - it looks good
and tastes good. I think it would also work with other soft cheeses such as
goats’ cheese or mascarpone, so there are lots of options if you want to
experiment.
Condition: Not the most traditional of pies, but this is the one
to make if you want to impress people. The shape is unusual and very pretty,
and having some filling on show is a nice touch. It’s also easy to transport –
mine went on a two hour car journey (wrapped in tinfoil on a baking tray) and
arrived with no damage.
The Ship's Cook
The Ship's Cook
Labels:
recipe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for getting in touch with the Pierateers!