Spanakopita Pies

"Here she goes again with the spinach and cheese pies", I hear you say. But it's a good one... I promise!

Spanakopita Pies
from Janelle Bloom's My Favourite Food for all Seasons
Makes 6

2 bunches of silverbeet
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon, zested
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped dill
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 egg, lightly beaten
300g Greek feta
125g ghee, melted
375g packet filo pastry
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Remove leave from silverbeet stalks, discard the stalks. Rinse the leaves and pat dry, then chop the leaves.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the silverbeet, a handful at a time, letting one handful wilt down before adding the next one. Keep adding until all the silverbeet is wilted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Pour the silverbeet into a colander and drain, squeezing as much moisture out as you can. Put the cooked silverbeet into a large bowl and add the lemon zest, nutmeg, dill and parsley. Add the eggs to the warm silverbeet mixture and mix until well combined. Crumble over the feta, season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (fan-forced). Lightly grease six 3cm-deep, 11cm (top) pie tins with a little of the melted ghee. Lightly brush one filo sheet with melted ghee. Top with another sheet and brush with ghee. Cut the pastry in half crossways and use both halves to line the base and sides on 1 pie tin. Trim the excess pastry with scissors, leaving about 1cm overhang right around the tin. Repeat five times to line all pie tins. Divide the silverbeet filling between all pies.

Brush 1 filo sheet with melted ghee. Top with another sheet and brush will ghee. Fold in half crossways so you have four layers of filo. Place over one pie. Roll the pastry top and sides together.Brush the top of the pie with ghee and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat five time to finish remaining pies.

Use a sharp knife to cut 3 small slits in the top of each pie. Place onto a baking tray and put the lot into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.