Te Huruhi's Silverbeet and Feta Pies

Try these yummy pies supplied by Garden to Table's Te Huruhi Primary School on Waiheke Island, made using fresh silverbeet (or kale), parsley, and thyme garden harvests. Also a great recipe for turning leftovers into something exciting!

1 tbsp olive oil
1 med onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
100g cooked silverbeet or other leafy green veg such as spinach or kale (well-drained and chopped)
100g feta cheese, drained
1 tbspn chopped herbs e.g. parsley, thyme.
1 eggs, lightly beaten
10 sheets filo pastry
70g salted butter, melted, for brushing
freshly ground black pepper
Optional extra: grated cheese

Heat oven to 170C/fan 180C/gas 6.
Heat the oil in a pan, then fry off the onion for 2 mins until softened, add garlic and cook for another 2 mins.
Add the cooked silverbeet and cook for a few mins more until any liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.
Crumble feta finely into a large bowl, add beaten eggs, silver beet mixture, chopped herbs and black pepper, stir to combine well.
Unfold the filo and cut into three pieces lengthwise, cutting through all of the sheets at once. Set aside 1/3 of pastry, wrapping or covering the remainder to prevent from drying out.
Take 1 strip of pastry and brush lightly with melted butter. Fold in half length wise, then brush again with butter and fold again. You should end up with a roughly square piece of pastry. Take 2 of these and place one on top of the other, with butter in between, so you end up with an 8 pointed star.
Lightly oil the muffin tins, place 1 star of pastry into each hole. Divide mixture equally between the pastry cases.
Optional extra: Grate a little cheese on top of each pie.
Bake for 12-15 mins until lightly golden and crisp.

Notes:

If making for adults or as a main dish you can make one large pie.
You can use any veg. Try adding sun-dried or cherry tomatoes.
There is no wrong way, just make sure the filling is not wet and that you use lots of butter to oil the pasty so that it bakes golden.

Recipe supplied by Te Huruhi Primary School.

Photo credit: Michelle Hepburn.