Leafy greens pie with yoghurt pastry

We love cooking with the leafy tops of our radishes, swedes and Japanese turnips but you can use whatever greens you have on hand including silverbeet, nettles or spinach.

• serves

  8

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

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Ingredients

Yoghurt pastry

• 100 g butter chilled and diced
• 100 g lard, chilled (see Note)
• 300 g (2 cups) plain flour, chilled
• ½ tsp salt
• 200 g yoghurt, chilled

Filling

• 4 big double handfuls (around 8 cups) mixed fresh young green leaves, such as silverbeet, spinach, radish tops, swede tops or nettles, well washed and stalks removed
• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 leek, green end washed and finely sliced
• 4 tbsp roughly chopped dill
• 300 g fresh ricotta (or use a mix of ricotta and feta)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 eggs
• Lemon wedges, to serve

Refrigeration time 1-2 hours (for pastry)

Instructions

1. For the pastry, rub the butter and lard into the flour and salt, or use a food processor, but try to keep everything cool. Stir or pulse in the yoghurt until the mix is just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1-2 hours before using.

2. Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

3. Place a large saucepan over low heat. When hot, add the greens, cover, and cook just until wilted; the water left after washing will help the greens steam. Pour into a colander, stand until cool, then squeeze vigorously to remove all the liquid. Chop the greens really well and place in a large bowl.  

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in frying pan over low heat. Add the leek and cook until soft but not brown. Add to the bowl with the wilted greens along with the dill, ricotta, a generous pinch of salt and a good few grinds of black pepper. Mix well, then stir in the eggs.

5. Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface into a round, about 5 mm thick. Place over a greased 30 cm pie dish with a generous amount of the pastry overhanging the sides (alternatively, you could shape it free-form on a flat baking tray). Place the filling in the middle and spread out a little, but leave enough of a border to bring the pastry up over the top to partially cover the filling.

6. Brush the top generously with more olive oil (or with another lightly beaten egg to make it go a lovely golden brown). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and the pastry is cooked through, including on the bottom.

7. Cool in the pan. Serve slices warm or at room temperature with fresh lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Note

•If you want the pie to be vegetarian, replace lard with additional butter.

Photography by Tim Thatcher.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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