When a saw a photo of this spinach and paneer filo pie by blogger Colonial Cravings pop up on my Twitter feed, I wanted to devour it immediately! Like anything worthwhile though, you actually have to put some work in to make it happen. I rushed straight out to get the ingredients and made my very own paneer pie. Although I found elements of dealing with the filo pastry a little tricky, the results were worth every bit of effort.
The recipe serves 4-6
Ingredients
700g floury potatoes (I used Maris Piper)
200g paneer (I used Patak’s)
1 onion
2 inch piece of ginger, grated (I used 2 tsp ginger paste)
2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed (I used 2 tsp garlic paste)
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
3 large handfuls of spinach or a small bag
200-220g filo sheets
80g butter
1 egg
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 200°c and lightly grease a baking tray.
- Dice the potato into small cubes, there’s really no need to peel them. Put the potato in a large pan of boiling water and cook until they are quite tender (around 2-3 minutes). Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan and then pour most of it into a small dish for later. Thinly slice the onion and fry in the butter that’s left in the pan until it starts to soften (2-3 minutes)
- Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for a minute or two. Sprinkle in the spices and seasonings. Cube the paneer and mix it with everything in the pan, keeping the heat low but allow it to soften a little.
- Stir in the cooked potato followed by the spinach. Add a tablespoon or so of water and let the spinach wilt down before removing from the heat.
- Whisk the egg and set it aside and keep the filo sheets under a damp tea towel. Cover your work top with about a meter of cling film. Lay out a couple of sheets of filo, over-lapping by at least an inch and brush them with the melted butter. Build up the layers of filo and melted butter, working as quickly as you can so that your pastry doesn’t dry out.
- Spread the filling along the length of the filo at the edge closest to you and brush the far edge with the egg. Use the cling film to help you and roll the pastry away from you to create a sausage shape. Curl the sausage around itself to form a spiral. I did need a little assistance rolling the pie! Again, using the cling film to help you, transfer the pie to the baking tray. Brush it really well with the rest of the beaten egg and sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 35 minutes until golden. Serve hot or cold.
