Crustless Greek Spinach Pie is a healthy version of the classic dish spanakopita, lightened up without the crust.
Crustless Greek Spinach Pie
by Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
One of my favorite Greek foods is spanakopita, cheesy spinach filling inside layers of flaky phyllo pastry. I have always had a soft spot for it. But around ten years ago I started doing a low carb diet, and naturally, I couldn’t get through the first month of Spring without my thoughts turning to it. But the phyllo pastry was a no-no on that diet. I decided to ditch that part of the recipe and just bake it in a pan, sort of the way you would do a quiche, and it turned out quite nicely, scratching my spanakopita itch. This is essentially all the flavor of the pastry wrapped appetizer, but made more like a crustless quiche.
Big bowl of fresh spinach shrinks down…
I used to make this recipe with frozen chopped spinach but I don’t buy it that much anymore, although I have not sworn off using it. You could probably use two ten-ounce boxes of that, thawed and squeezed dry if you wish, but the fresh spinach is quite superior. I use three small bunches in this which came out to a pound. There are sources online which equate frozen spinach subbed for fresh differently but I disagree with their estimations quite a lot. If you did this their way (and I won’t say who *they* are, just that *they* are out there), you would not be able to fit this into the pan. Haha, Umph, cough,…
Egg, yogurt and Parmesan mixture
Egg mixture whisked up
Egg mix, spinach and feta ready to mix
You could also use bagged spinach in this, but I don’t see the point. They claim to wash it and charge double what it’s worth. But if you are going to rinse it anyway (and believe me you do NOT want to skip this step, especially if you purchase organic vegetables) and spend 5-10 minutes plucking off the stems (don’t include those, they can be quite tough and often stringy) I don’t see what the issue is to not use fresh bunches. When you do wash it, fill your plugged clean sink with cold water, plenty enough to swish the spinach around to get the dirt off. Don’t use warm water as it prematurely wilts the leaves.
Spinach Pie Ready to Bake
I am posting this recipe as part of the Weekday Supper Movement. I wanted a green sort of recipe for Spring, so I decided to revisit this old favorite, especially since it is Springtime again, and my thoughts (like clockwork) have returned to it.
Weekday Supper Movement is a branch of the Sunday Supper Movement where a group of food bloggers does recipe postings on selected subjects. For the Weekday Supper Movement, the them runs the entire month and each blogger picks one of the days to run their article/recipe on. For Sunday Supper Movement, the theme is eekly, and multiple bloggers all run their post on the same day (Sunday). It’s lots of fun, so if you are interesting in blogging or desktop publishing, you might want to look into it.
If you want to see the other Weekday Supper recipes for this week, I have them listed here (although they will not be live until their individual post dates, so if you are reading this early, just remember to check back, or better still, subscribe via RSS to the blog you are interested in). Please do visit them and let them know you appreciate their hard work working up these delicious creations for you.
Monday 3/30- Easy Skillet Pesto Pasta by Momma’s Meals
Tuesday 3/31 – Crustless Greek Spinach Pie by Palatable Pastime
Wednesday 4/1- Fresh Pea Soup and Grilled Cheese Supreme by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Thursday 4/2 – Skillet Chicken with Spinach and Avocado by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
Friday 4/3- Pasta with Leeks and Bacon by The Redhead Baker
Crustless Greek Spinach Pie
Pair with dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc
Ingredients:
-
- 1 pound fresh spinach, rinsed, stems removed, and coarsely chopped
- 1 cup thinly sliced scallions
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill weed
- 3 large organic eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Method:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Thoroughly rinse spinach in deep water to remove any sand or grit; pinch off stems and discard.
- Drain spinach and coarsely chop; if some water clings, that’s fine- you just don’t want it swimming. The little bit of water that clings will actually help the spinach to shrink down when it heats.
- Heat oil in a large skillet and add chopped garlic, allowing to sizzle for a minute.
- Add spinach, scallions, and dill weed; tossing a few times and covering with a lid just until it becomes dark green and compacts down (you don’t want it cooked- just wilted); drain spinach in a sieve.
- Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in the Parmesan and yogurt until smooth.
- Add cooked spinach and feta cheese, gently tossing to mix.
- Place ingredients in a glass pie plate that has been sprayed with nonstick or oiled lightly, spreading out the spinach so it does not clump.
- Place pie plate on a drip pan (just in case) and bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until lightly browned and set (test with a toothpick- it should come out with no raw egg).
- Let cool 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
from the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
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This sounds like the perfect spring dish! Cut some calories and enjoy great flavors!
Thanks, Cindy!
I love this recipe! I could have this breakfast lunch or dinner!
Thanks. 🙂
I love recipes like this, I could eat some form of savory pie or quiche for dinner every night! Great recipe!
Jenna
Thanks! 🙂
This looks incredible! Perfect light dinner for Spring.
Thank you!