With a golden, buttery pastry crust and a soft, savoury spinach filling, this meat-free pie is a great option for a light lunch or an easy family dinner. It comes together in under an hour and tastes just as good cold the next day, making it ideal for picnics, lunchboxes or a quick meal when you don’t feel like cooking. Spinach is also packed with nutrients, including vitamins A, C and K, folate and iron, so you’re getting a good helping of greens with every slice.

Prep time: 25 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling | Cooking time: 45 minutes | Servings: 6 to 8

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 375 ml cake flour
• 2.5 ml salt
• 200 g cold butter, cubed
• 60 to 80 ml ice water

For the filling:

• 15 ml olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 500 g spinach, washed and roughly chopped
• 200 g feta, crumbled
• 100 g mature cheddar, grated
• 4 eggs
• 60 ml cream
• 2.5 ml grated nutmeg
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Method

1. To make the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time, mixing until the dough just comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. Roll out the chilled pastry on a floured surface and line a 23 cm pie or tart dish, trimming any excess. Prick the base with a fork and chill for a further 10 minutes.
5. Blind bake the pastry case for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove and set aside.
6. For the filling, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened.
7. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute, until fragrant.
8. Add the spinach in batches, cooking until wilted down completely.
9. Tip the wilted spinach into a colander or clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
10. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Stir in the squeezed spinach, feta, cheddar, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
11. Pour the filling into the pastry case and spread out evenly.
12. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set and lightly golden on top.
13. Allow to cool slightly before slicing, or serve at room temperature.

Chef tips:

• Squeeze the spinach dry in batches, once through a colander and again in a clean kitchen towel, to get out as much liquid as possible. This is the single biggest factor in whether the filling sets properly.
• Chilling the pastry twice, once before rolling and again after lining the dish, stops it from shrinking away from the sides during blind baking.