Greek Spinach and Feta Flatbread

I am undergoing an experiment and I hope to God it works, as my kitchen is producing some fantastic aromas and the thought of this flat bread is making my mouth water so much. Our kitchen cupboards are pretty bare this week and I have a fridge full of odds and sods. Nothing seams to go together. Sitting alone in the cheese box of my fridge was a medium piece of feta left over from a previous salad that needed to be used up. I scoured the fridge for any remaining ingredients that could go with this tangy cheese. There is was, half a large box of baby spinach leaves. I really didn't have to think too hard as to what I wanted to do. Originally a spinach and feta pie came to mind but I had no eggs to make pastry as Ian and I had devoured them over brunch yesterday. My thoughts then turned towards a type of flat bread. I had seen a recipe some time ago using two Indian roti's that sandwiched together some potato, onions and spices. I thought this idea might work with the spinach and feta...hence the experiment.

Spread the filling out flat leaving space at the edges

As I was making the filling I new what flavors I wanted and added them by taste. The filling turned out darn tasty..with a dash of this and a dash of that the perfect filling was made. I used my trusty tortilla recipe minus the oil to make the flat bread and allowed it to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling it out into small discs. A small amount of filling was added onto the top of the discs before being covered with another disc and rolled out to make a thin flat bread. At first I found that some of the filling did ooze out of the edges but with a bit of practice that ooze was minimal. These were then pan fried in a dry pan until the flat bread began to brown. The smell was amazing..I couldn't wait to tuck in. These would be perfect served alongside a Greek salad salsa. I had some of the filling left so I used this to serve alongside as a dip. Hummus would work well too.

For the Filling

2 Tbsp Cream Cheese

1 Tbsp Sour Cream

1/2 Onion finely diced

1 Garlic Clove minced

Small box of Baby spinach leaves

1/2-1 Tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano

Juice from 1/2 Lemon

Grated Lemon zest

Feta Cheese Crumbled (Add to taste)

Salt and Pepper

For the flat bread

Click here

(Do not add oil)

Prepare the flat bread, cover in clingfilm and chill for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile in a frying pan soften the onion until translucent, add the garlic, spinach, cumin, oregano, lemon zest and lemon juice and wilt the spinach. Season with a small amount of salt and plenty of pepper. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool. Add the sour cream and cream cheese to the pan and allow to melt together. Chop the spinach mixture up finely and add back into the pan with the crumbled feta. Combine well. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

Remove the flat bread dough from the fridge and divide into several golf ball pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball. On a floured surface press the dough ball flat with the palm of your hand. Using a rolling pin roll the dough into small discs approx 5-7 mm thick. Add a teaspoon of the filling into the centre of one disc and spread thinly. Brush water around the edges of the dough before covering with another disc. Seal the two pieces of dough together and gently roll out to a thinner disc approx 5 mm in total. In a dry frying pan over a high heat add the flat bread and brown the underside. The bread will begin to bubble and brown spots will appear on the dough. Flip the bread over when this happens and brown the other side. Continue to make up the flat breads untill all dough has been used. Serve warm with a dip of your choice.

This experiment worked so well. The flat breads do need to have a dip served alongside otherwise they may be too dry.

Creamed Spinach with Parmesan

Creamed Spinach... I have never had it in my life until yesterday. I had the idea of making creamed spinach last week when I bought two large juicy sirloin steaks. I love to eat spinach and more often than not it is in a salad...well not this time. I wanted to try it differently and creamed spinach was the way to go. As I'm attempting to eat a little healthier I made it with soured cream, but by all means you can use cream instead. I bought a huge box of spinach and used the whole box to make this dish. As you wilt  the spinach your amazed at how quickly it reduces. We polished off all the spinach and would have had more if there was more available.

Creamed Spinach

1 large box baby Spinach

1 Tbsp Butter plus some for wilting the spinach

1 Tbsp Flour

Splash Milk

2 Tbsp Soured Cream

Nutmeg

Salt & Pepper

1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan

Begin by wilting the spinach down in a pan with a knob of butter. I did this in batches as my pan was not big enough. Allow to cool, then chop coarsely. Meanwhile in another pan add the tablespoon of butter and melt over a medium heat, then add the flour to make a thick paste. Loosen this paste up by adding a splash of milk (keep the pan on the heat and stir at all times to stop any lumps from appearing). This paste should remain thick but have a smoother consistency. Then add the soured cream and blend together well. Keep the pan on the heat and cook out the flour. Add the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper and nutmeg to taste.  If you feel the sauce is too thick add some more soured cream or milk, but remember the spinach will add some more moisture making the sauce less thick. Add the chopped spinach and mix well. Allow the spinach to warm through and then serve. Voila.....a lovely creamy spinach dish.

Comfort food

So now I have a little more time on my hands my culinary mind has gone into overdrive. There are new recipes that I want to experiment with and at present I am trying to do new twists on classic recipes. Last night I had planned to make an Italian sausage lasagna, exchanging the tomato sauce for a roasted red pepper sauce and adding spinach to the bechamel sauce. I had some left over homemade pasta that spent the day happily thawing out on the kitchen counter, therefore all of last nights dinner was homemade. Not bad considering I came off nights that morning.

I love leftovers, especially when you can make a meal out of them. I have some pork belly in the freezer and I plan to make some duck confit before Christmas. I am hoping that I can make a cassoulet with these ingredients using an altered version of my homemade baked beans. I can't wait to make this, but firstly lets get the recipe for last nights feast..

Italian Sausage Lasagna


Italian Sausage Meat
1 Large Onion
5 Red Peppers
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Sprigs Thyme
1 Can Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Milk
Cheese (Parmesan)
Nutmeg
2 Tbsp Flour
Knob of butter
Spinach
Lasagna Sheets

Firstly cut the peppers in half and arrange skin side up on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and put under a hot grill until the skins turn black. Make sure you keep an eye on them as they turn very quickly. Remove from the grill and carefully peal off the blackened skin and remove the seeds. Slice finely. Dice the onion finely along with the garlic, add these to a well oiled pan and simmer until translucent, then add the can of tomatoes and the red peppers. Bring to a simmer, season with salt and pepper and blitz into a smooth sauce. Lastly add some thyme leaves.

Fry the sausage meat until brown and drain off any excess fat. Add the roasted pepper sauce to the sausage and simmer for 5-10 mins. Meanwhile you can make your bechamel sauce. In a pan set over a medium heat make your rue. Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir until you get a thick paste, then start to whisk in your milk slowly until you get the desired thickness of sauce. (Make sure you keep stirring the sauce otherwise you may get lumps, the paste should dissolve into the milk). Add a cup of grated cheese to the bechamel sauce. You can use whatever cheese you like, I used parmesan and cheddar. Finally wilt some spinach, squeeze out any excess water, chop finely and add to the cheese sauce. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Now its time to assemble the lasagna. Grease a deep oven proof dish to stop the pasta sheets from sticking to it.  Place a layer of lasagna sheets in the bottom of the dish, layer with the cheese sauce, then the sausage mixture, then another layer of lasagna sheets and so on. Keep doing this until finished. I like to finish with a layer of lasagna sheets, followed by a layer of the cheese sauce and then sprinkle the top with parmesan to get a nice crunchy finish.

The last step needed now is to bake the lasagna, prior to serving. (Unbaked lasagna's will keep in the fridge for a  a couple of days before baking. You can also freeze it and when needed thaw and then bake). To bake the lasagna pre-heat the oven to 350 and bake for approx 30 -40 mins or until the top turns nice and brown. Serve with a nice spinach salad.

I have some roasted red pepper sauce left over which is going into the freezer to create another dish, maybe ratatouille!!!

Inspiration

I get inspiration for my cooking everywhere, ranging from magazines to restaurants to general chit chat with friends. I love it when I go to restaurants and enjoy a delicious meal. If I am really impressed I  always try to recreate the dish at home. I have done this on several occasions and more often than not it has turned out pretty well. When I was living in London my friend and I fell in love with a Belgian restaurant in Covent garden, we couldn't get enough of it. We must have tasted every Belgian beer at some point and every mussel dish going. Huge pots of mussels were served with vast baskets of fries and a side order of rye bread smeared with mayonnaise. Oh how I wish I could go back there now. Anyway, we had a mussel dish that consisted of steamed mussels on the half shell that were coated in this fantastic spinach creamy sauce with melted stringy cheese. It was devine. Well I tried this dish at home and it was perfect. I had invited my friend over and we stuffed our faces with the mussels and dipped bread into the sauce, this washed down with a nice fragrant Belgian beer took us right back to the restaurant in Covent garden. I am inputting a mussel dish into the book but it is more traditional so I will give you the recipe for the creamy spinach mussel dish.

Holidays also have given me ideas, Egypt gave me homemade flat breads with a homemade chilli and oil dip, Italy gave me home made Raviolli and tomato salad and Barcelona gave me potato bravas with chorizo, the list is endless and I could just keep going. If you like a dish and are not too sure what ingredients are needed just look at a couple of recipes and adapt them to how you remember the dish tasting. The key point is to keep tasting the dish as your creating it, that is the best way.

Creamy Spinach Mussels

Mussels (enough for 2 people)

1 Cup Chicken stock/ WhiteWine

1 Large Bag of baby spinach

1 Small onion

2 Medium cloves of garlic

1/2 Block of cream cheese

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp All purpose four

Lemon

Light Cream

Nutmeg

Salt & Pepper

Gruyere Cheese

Soak the mussels in cold water for an hour, drain and then de-beard.

Dice the onions and garlic up finely and fry in a large frying pan with a pinch of salt , when soft add the spinach and wilt. When wilted drain the spinach mixture into a colander and press out the remaining water then blend this until smooth and set aside. In the same frying pan add the butter and when melted stir in the flour to make a rue. Add the cream slowly until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Now add the cream cheese and stir in until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg and the blended spinach mix. Stir in until incorporated. Taste and add more seasoning if required along with a squeeze of lemon juice (usually just a 1/4 lemon works). If the sauce is a little to thick add more cream.

Meanwhile throw away any mussels that are open. In a medium pan add the chicken stock or wine and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and add the mussels and cover. Allow to steam for approx 5 minutes until mussel shells have opened, shake the pan half way through. (Once opened they are ready) Drain and throw away any mussels that have not opened. Remove one half of the shell and lay mussels in a grill proof dish. Pour over the spinach sauce and sprinkle with grated Gruyère cheese. Place under the grill until cheese turns golden brown. Serve in dish with fresh bread for dipping. Et voila.

Let me know how it turns out.