Spanakopita, gorgeous Greek spinach pie

Here’s what to do

• Preheat your oven to 200C | 180C fan forced.
  
  Prepare the spinach
• If using spinach bunches, twist or cut the leaves from the stems (leaving a little stem is okay) and wash well by immersing it in water, then draining. Don’t skip this step. If you do you’ll be crunching grit when you’re eating your pie and that’s just yuk. No need to wash if you’re using frozen spinach.
• Place a steamer basket over a little water in a large, wide pot and add half the spinach to the basket, sprinkling half the oregano on the spinach. Bring the water to the boil and steam about five minutes until just wilted. Remove to a colander, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and repeat with the remaining spinach.
• When all the spinach is gently wilted, pick it up and with your hands, then squeeze and squeeze and squeeze until all the water has gone. You’ll be left with a little ball of deep green goodness.
• Chop the spinach finely, then set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
• In a large mixing bowl, finely crumble the feta, add the ricotta cheese and squish that up with a fork, mixing it through the feta as you go.
  
  Prepare and assemble the pie
• Peel and finely chop the brown onion – I mean finely, otherwise you’ll end up with uncooked onion bits in your pie and that’s not nice. When super fine, add to the cheese mixture.
• Wash the spring onions, remove the hairy end and outer leaves if a bit grubby, then finely slice the white part and green tails, then add to the bowl with the cheeses and onion.
• Add the chopped spinach, parsley, grated nutmeg, freshly ground black pepper to the bowl. The mixture doesn’t tend to need salt as the feta is quite salty, but add a little extra if you wish. Mix it all together with a spoon.
• Break the eggs into a separate bowl or cup and lightly break them up with a fork, then add to the spinach and cheese and mix very well. The filling should be a bit squishy and moist, but not runny wet. If you feel it needs a third egg, go for it – there’ll be no damage done as long as it’s all cooked well.
• Melt the butter and place within easy reach on the super-clean bench you’ll be working on. Remove the pastry from its packaging (do thaw well if you’re using frozen pastry) and unroll the sheets. If you’re working quickly don’t worry too much about it drying out.
• Brush the pan with butter. Remove a sheet of pastry and line the pan, gently pressing into the corners. It will probably tear in places, but don’t be too concerned. Brush the bottom layer with butter and spread another pastry sheet over and repeat this for four layers, until you have a hole-free lining. Leave the excess hanging over the outside edges.
• Tip the prepared filling into the pastry lined baking dish and fold the excess pastry over the top.
• Place a sheet of pastry on the filling and lightly dot with butter. Place another sheet of pastry on and repeat this process, buttering between each layer (or every second layer) until you have 8 layers of pastry.
  
  Bake the pie
• 
  Brush the top with butter and place into your preheated oven. If you have some overhang or messy edges, just use some kitchen scissors to trim these off.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes, checking the pastry isn’t burning. Adjust the temperature if it’s getting too hot.
• The pie is cooked when feels a bit springy and coming away from the sides of the dish. For a less springy pie, use less egg.
• Remove from the oven and let sit for five minutes before cutting and serving with golden roast potatoes and tabbouleh salad or other side of your choice.