Cheese and spinach triangles

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It is funny how I have been writing this blog for about eight years and still I haven’t posted some of my favourite recipes, recipes I make year after year.

We all have a recipe that you know you can rely on when someone asks us to “bring a plate” or when friends come over for drinks and nibblies.  Mine is these spinach and cheese triangles.  I think that is why I haven’t posted the recipe.  I don’t usually have time to arrange a nice photo when I have anticipatory guests and, in any event, it is very hard to take an interesting photo of some brown pastries.  I did my best.

This recipe comes from the 1991 Australian Women’s Weekly Mediterranean Cookbook and, I am guessing, I have made the recipe, at least, once every year since 1991. Whenever I make them, which is usually in the summer months,  I double the recipe which yields about 32 triangles.  They freeze perfectly between sheets of baking paper so all I have to do when friends come is bake them for 15 minutes. 

 

You may be thinking that this is all very well but it is not summer now and we should not be having any friends over for drinks and nibblies.  True, true,  but … I have a very good explanation.

I made a double batch just after Christmas.  We had visitors from Perth and I had invited another couple over for Christmas drinks but the couple could not make it.  The rest of the triangles were going to be for a gathering of eight friends which, again, never happened.  As a consequence, we ended up with 32 triangles in the freezer at the end of summer and are stuck here by ourselves because of the bloody coronavirus.

What to do?  Several nights of spinach triangles, capsicums and kiwanas for dinner – that is what to do.

We also made a double batch of another favourite recipe – Simon Bryant’s samosas.  We are having them for dinner, too.  Next time, I will take a photo and do a post of them but, for today, it is the 1991 AWW spinach and cheese triangles.

Ingredients:

• 30g butter
• 3 spring onions, chopped finely
• 250g spinach or silverbeet leaves ( I usually use frozen silverbeet because I invariably have some in the freezer).
• 2 tsp chopped fresh dill
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 125g fetta cheese, crumbled
• 125g ricotta cheese
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ cup fine breadcrumbs
•  approximately 10 sheets fillo pastry
• 75g butter, extra melted – I never measure out the extra butter.  I just melt some, use it and then melt some more.

Method:

1. If using fresh spinach/sivlerbeet cook until it is wilted then remove from the heat.  If using frozen, defrost.
2. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can from your spinach/sivlerbeet then chop coarsely.
3. Heat butter in large frying pan, add onion; cook, stirring, until onion is softened.
4. Add spinach/silverbeet and dill, cook, stirring, until all moisture is gone; cool.
5. Combine spinach/silverbeet mixture in a bowl with the cheeses, nutmeg; eggs and bread crumbs.
6. Brush one sheet of pastry with butter; top with a second sheet and brush with butter. Cut layered sheets into 4 strips crossways.
7. Place one heaped tablespoon of spinach mixture at one end of each strip. Fold one corner of pastry diagonally over filling to form a triangle. Continue folding to end of strip, retaining triangular shape.
8. Brush triangles with a little butter.
9. Repeat to make approximately 16 triangles.
10. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line oven tray with baking paper.
11. Place triangles on trays. Bake 15 minutes or until browned lightly.

Like I mentioned above, these triangles freeze perfectly.  Place uncooked triangles in a container separating each row with baking paper.  If you wish, once they are frozen, you can remove them from the container and place in a plastic ziplock bag. Remove from the freezer and defrost before baking.