Seriana’s Family Recipe With Herbal Sauce

This one is not mine. It comes from Seriana, who makes it the way she learned from her mother, and who had the good sense to put a spoonful of my Herbal Sauce into the filling. I tasted it, and I asked her if I could share it. So here it is, as she makes it.

It is spanakopita, more or less: spinach, feta and filo, baked until the top shatters. The Herbal Sauce — shallots, basil, coriander, a little mustard — does something the filling did not have before. It sharpens it. Feta is salty and flat on its own; this gives it a green edge and a bit of bite. Trust the process, as she says.

Recipe at a glance

• Cuisine: Greek, with a Caribbean guest in the filling
• Course: Main, or cut small for a party
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 35 minutes
• Total: 50 minutes
• Serves: 4 as a main, 8 as a starter
• Featured sauce: Herbal Sauce
• Heat level: 0/10, no heat at all
• Diet: Vegetarian

What you’ll need

• 6 sheets filo pastry
• 300 g fresh spinach
• 200 g feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons Full Feast Fresh Herbal Sauce
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little for the dish
• Salt and black pepper
• Melted butter or olive oil, for brushing the filo

Method

1. Heat the oven. Preheat to 180°C fan (200°C conventional, gas 6).
2. Wilt the spinach. Put the spinach in a large pan over a medium heat with nothing else — the water on the leaves is enough. Turn it until it collapses, two or three minutes. Tip it into a sieve and, once it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands. This is the step that keeps the pie crisp. Roughly chop it.
3. Soften the onion. In the same pan, warm the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onion gently until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for the last minute.
4. Make the filling. In a bowl, mix the chopped spinach, the softened onion and garlic, the spring onion, the crumbled feta and the 2 tablespoons of Herbal Sauce. Season with black pepper and taste before you add salt — feta is salty already, and so is the sauce.
5. Build the base. Brush a baking dish (roughly 20 x 30 cm) with olive oil. Lay in 3 sheets of filo, one at a time, brushing each with melted butter or oil and letting the edges hang over the sides. Keep the sheets you are not using under a damp tea towel so they do not dry out.
6. Fill it. Spread the filling evenly over the filo.
7. Top it. Lay the remaining 3 sheets on top, brushing each one. Fold the overhanging edges in and brush the top once more.
8. Score and bake. With a sharp knife, lightly score the top into squares — just through the top layers, not all the way down. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until deep golden and crisp.
9. Rest. Leave it for 5 minutes before you cut it. The filling firms up and the squares come out clean.

The role of Herbal Sauce in this dish

Two tablespoons does not sound like much against 300 grams of spinach and a block of feta. It is enough. The shallots and the herbs run through the whole filling, and the mustard gives the feta something to push against. Without it the pie is good. With it, it tastes of something.

If you want to see what I mean before you commit, the Herbal Sauce is the mildest thing we make — no heat at all — and it goes with nearly everything green.

Tips from my kitchen

• Squeeze the spinach properly. Wet spinach makes soggy filo. Squeeze it in your fists until it stops dripping, then squeeze again.
• Do not skip the brushing. Every sheet, every time. That is what makes the layers separate and shatter.
• Score before baking, not after. Cutting through crisp filo after it comes out crushes it. Score it raw, then finish the cuts along the same lines once it has rested.
• Frozen spinach works. Use 250 g, defrosted and squeezed very hard.

What to serve it with

A plain green salad with lemon and olive oil, and nothing else. Or cut it small and put it out at a party — it is just as good at room temperature as it is hot.

FAQ

Is this vegetarian? Yes, as written. The Herbal Sauce is vegan and vegetarian, and the only animal product in the pie is the feta. It is not vegan and, because of the filo pastry, it is not gluten-free.

Can I make it ahead? Assemble it up to a day ahead, cover and keep it in the fridge, and bake it when you need it. It is best eaten the day it is baked, but it reheats well in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

Can I use a different cheese? Feta is the classic and the salt matters. A firm goat’s cheese works. Soft cheeses make the filling wet.

Final word from me

Seriana says the Herbal Sauce is the thing that made this pie hers rather than her mother’s. I think that is the best thing you can say about a sauce. Make it, and tell her what you think.