Spinach and Cheese Pie

Preparing the dough. It is very simple, but to get a truly delicious base, you need to follow some rules. The eggs, oil, and water should be cold. Some believe that using frozen oil is not very good because it changes its structure when frozen. But that's exactly how I like to do it. So I will tell you based on this method. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix it with sugar and salt. I take the oil out of the freezer and grate it (using a beet grater), add it to the flour, and quickly mix it with the flour. If everything is done really quickly, the oil doesn't have time to melt completely and just mixes with the flour, forming small pieces of oil coated in flour, resembling breadcrumbs, which is what we need.

Beat an egg with two tablespoons of very cold water using a fork. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the breadcrumbs and quickly mix. Dump everything onto the table.

Rub the remaining pieces of butter in the palm of your hand and knead the dough. It will quickly come together into a ball. Time is ticking. The less you knead and the faster you do it, the more delicious and tender our base will be.

Next, opinions are divided. Some say that you should immediately put the dough in the refrigerator, while others say that you should roll it out, place it in the pan, and then refrigerate it. I prefer the second method. Sprinkle the table with flour and roll out the dough to fit the size of the pan. The thickness will be about 0.3-0.5 centimeters.

Although this dough doesn't really stick to the pan, I still take precautions and line the bottom with greased baking paper. Spread the dough in the pan and trim off any excess. There is very little of it, you can simply make a couple of flattened cookies and put them in the oven with the quiche. But let's go back to the base. Now put it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, or even an hour if you have time.

Let's move on to the filling. Thaw the spinach and drain the excess water. I put it in the microwave, select the defrost function, and after a minute or two it is already thawed. I transfer it to a colander and press it slightly with my hand. If you have fresh spinach, remove all the tough stems first, rinse it thoroughly, and cut it into thin strips. I had young leaves, so I didn't remove any stems. If there are any, they are soft and edible. Cut the onion into cubes, chop the green onion and garlic. Heat a frying pan, add butter and vegetable oil, then add the onion and fry over medium heat until translucent. Next, add the green onion and garlic, and sauté for another minute, stirring. Add the chopped spinach. If you are using only fresh spinach, then the frying pan should be large and deep, as there will be a lot of greens at the beginning.

Sautéing will take just a couple of minutes. Stir constantly, swapping the bottom and top leaves. The spinach will quickly shrink in volume, but there is still some water to evaporate. Don't go overboard, we don't need the skillet to be completely dry. By the way, if you're combining fresh and frozen spinach like me, then at the end, add the frozen spinach to the skillet, mix well, and turn off the heat. There you have it, our spinach filling is ready. I didn't add any extra salt to the spinach, but if you think that the cheese won't be salty enough, add a pinch or two to the spinach filling.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Take our dough out of the refrigerator, prick the bottom with a fork, line with foil or parchment paper, and fill with beans. Another form, slightly smaller in size, can also be used instead of the suggested beans on the dough. Bake our dough for 15 minutes. Remove the foil with the weight and leave the dough for another 10-15 minutes until the bottom is lightly golden.

Start by evenly spreading the spinach on the base.

Next comes the diced feta cheese. It is softer and more delicate than regular feta. The saltiness of my cheese is medium, and if you prefer a saltier taste, you can lightly salt the spinach, although I did not do that.

In a bowl, lightly whisk the cream (I used 10% cream) and eggs until smooth, then pour it evenly on top of our pie. Arrange the tomato halves on top.

Bake the pie at a temperature of 170 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes. Adjust the baking time according to your oven! It is delicious both hot, warm, and cold! Enjoy your meal!