I was lying in bed this morning thinking about which café I’d take my out-of-town cousin and her cousin to when we met today, when it dawned on me to actually invite them home to lunch. I knew instantly that I would serve my go-to Italian spinach pie that I have been making for years. Almost everyone I have made this pie for has asked me for the recipe, and today was no different.
My spinach pie was a regular for our bookclub, it has provided comfort for a friend and her family, it works as an hors d’oeuvres with drinks, it’s the perfect lunch recipe with a salad (my favourite with this pie is a cherry tomato, roast pepper and mozzarella salad), can be eaten hot or cold, and so is great for a picnic or for making ahead.
Erbazzone – isn’t it fun to say? – hails from Emilia-Romagna in Italy (a part of Italy I’ve not yet visited) and, as with any traditional recipe, the ingredients vary; some recipes use eggs (I just use one), some add bacon or pancetta, and the vegetables in it need to be green and leafy, but don’t have to be spinach. I always cheat and use pre-made flaky puff pastry sheets and a 500g bag of frozen spinach, and if I’m feeling lazy (90% of the time) I’ll throw in a 100g packet of grated parmesan, but I do always make fresh breadcrumbs with four or five slices of bread. The recipe is very forgiving, and so it doesn’t matter if I have more spinach, or accidentally make more breadcrumbs that I need, and if I end up with more filling than expected, I treat it as a bonus, and add an extra pastry sheet for another, smaller pie.
So, because I wanted to do something different on my blog today, I thought I’d share it with you by providing a link to Julie Biuso’s food blog, as I use her recipe (though there are many others on the internet) from her Long Italian Lunch cookbook, and feel that I owe her many thanks for this fantastic recipe.
Okay. I hate hate hate spinach. That said, I am okay with spanakopita. I also love puff pastry. I have not looked at the recipe yet. Will I like this?
Also, I do think that Erbazzone is fun to say.
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I love spinach…! Not only that but leafy vegetables are my Fav’s. But i have never tried making a puff pastry before…Hope the link provided for the recipe has instructions for making puff pastry before.
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This reminds me of a casserole I make, but BETTER. Somehow pastry intimidates me, likely because I’ve never attempted it.
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This looks so much like a spinach and ricotta pie that we make (also using frozen puff pastry and frozen chopped spinach) all the time. It is an excellent week night dinner or a good lunch with a salad and both kids love it.
We sometimes use frozen chopped kale in place of the spinach which is really tasty!
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Copiously salivating now…
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That sounds so good! And the tomato/pepper salad sounds like the perfect complement.
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Oh, this is fabulous. I’m always looking for healthy recipes that aren’t too complicated to make. I’m checking it out now!
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Oooh, this looks good… dh loves spinach & rapini and I’m betting he’d like this too. 🙂
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Plus, it’s Italian!
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