Deep Dish Spinach Pie Recipes

DEEP-DISH SPINACH PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°; on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a 13-inch square and fit into a 9-inch square baking pan.
• Fold the overhanging pastry all around to make a raised edge and crimp decoratively.
• Fit a sheet of foil over the dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
• Bake until the edges are set, about 10 minutes.
• Remove the foil and weights; return the crust to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes, until the bottom is firm and dry.
• Brush the pastry with the mustard and return to oven until set and dry, about 5 minutes.
• Decrease oven temperature to 375°.
• Add spinach to a large pot with just the water still clinging to the leaves.
• Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the spinach is wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
• Drain well and chop coarsely; mix in the tarragon, lemon juice, and feta cheese.
• Whisk the eggs, cream, sour cream, salt, and nutmeg together.
• Turn the spinach into the partially baked pastry shell; pour the egg mixture over the top.
• Bake until puffed all over and lightly browned, 45-50 minutes (cover pie crust edges with foil to prevent overbrowning).
• Cool 15 minutes before cutting.

DEEP DISH SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Defrost the spinach and phyllo dough in the fridge overnight.
• For the filling, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened and lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parsley, dill, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and lemon zest. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Drain the spinach through a strainer lined with a clean kitchen towel or a few layers of sturdy paper towel. Gather the spinach up in the towel and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Transfer to a bowl and add the lemon juice and feta. Stir in the cooled onion mixture and the egg.
• Retrieve the phyllo from the fridge, unroll it and cover it with a clean kitchen towel to keep it from drying out. Place a 9-inch springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet and brush the bottom and sides lightly with butter. Lay out one sheet of phyllo, brush with butter and transfer it to the prepared pan. There is no need to be extra careful here - the phyllo might tear, crack or rumple up a bit but that just makes for more texture in the end result. Layer on two more buttered sheets of phyllo across the bottom of the pan.
• Continue buttering the phyllo as before but begin placing the remaining sheets off-center around the pan so that their edges overlap in the center of the base and the other edge hangs over the sides, gently pressing along the bottom and up the sides to create a crust. Transfer the spinach filling into the phyllo crust and spread into an even layer.
• Gather and fold the overhanging phyllo overtop of the edges of the spinach, leaving the center bit of spinach exposed. Brush the phyllo with remaining butter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan and serving.

DEEP DISH SPINACH PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the olive in a saute pan and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place in a bowl. Add the onion mixture, scallions, Gruyere, Parmesan, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and pine nuts. Mix well. Unfold one piece of puff pastry, roll out into a rectangle, poke with a fork and and place in a square baking dish with the edges draped over the side. [Important note: puff pasty gets very sticky if you wait until it is fully thawed to unfold it. I recommend that you sprinkle some flour on the counter and unfold the pastry when it is still cold. When thawed, flatten it with a rolling pin.] Scoop the spinach mixture on top of the pastry in the baking dish. Roll out the second piece of puff pastry on a floured board until it is also a rectangle. Place the second sheet of pastry in the opposite direction over the spinach and tuck the sides down into the baking pan being sure it reaches all the way down to the bottom piece of pastry. Then roll up the flaps from the bottom pastry. In a circular motion go around the entire parameter of the baking dish and roll and seal pinching along the way to make a seal on top. Brush the top with egg wash and then use a fork to poke the top of the pastry a few times. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned and puffy. Let cool 20 minutes before slicing.

DEEP DISH SPINACH AND MOZZARELLA PIZZA

Steps:

• Position an oven rack on the second-lowest level in the oven and place a baking stone, if using one, on the rack. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Brush a 14 inch round deep-dish pizza pan with the olive oil. Starting in the middle and using your fingertips. press the dough evenly to cover the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in the pan for 15-20 minutes.
• To assemble the pizza, lightly press the dough up the sides of the pan if it has slid back down. Lay half of the mozzarella slices over the pizza dough, overlapping to cover the dough completely.
• Toss the spinach with the garlic and a few grindings of pepper. Arrange the spinach mixture over the mozzarella. Arrange the rest of the mozzarella over the spinach. Ladle the tomato sauce evenly over the mozzarella. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top of the sauce.
• Place the pizza in the oven on the rack or baking stone and reduce the temperature to 450 degrees F. (Work quickly so the oven temperature doesn't drop too much). Bake the pizza until the crust is crisp and a deep golden brown, and the cheese is golden, about 30 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Use a knife to loosen the crust from the sides of the pan.
• Cut the pizza into large wedges and then slide a metal spatula until the bottom crust to remove and lift out the wedges. Serve immediately.

DEEP-DISH SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• Crust: Proof yeast in water with sugar; in a food processor or in a bowl, mix 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and salt; add oil to bubbly yeast mixture and stir or process into flour mixture until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.
• Scrape dough onto floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic (or process until smooth and elastic), using up to 1/4 cup more all-purpose flour, if needed, to keep dough from sticking.
• Place dough in oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise, in warm place, until doubled; punch dough down, wrap it well and refrigerate until needed.
• Sauce: In a skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil until soft; reduce heat to low and add tomatoes and their liquid; break up the tomatoes slightly and add the salt, sugar, pepper, and pepper flakes; simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 30 minutes.
• Topping: Cook spinach in covered saucepan until wilted, about 3 minutes; drain, rinse with cold water and squeeze dry; chop coarsely; saute garlic in hot oil for 15 seconds; add spinach and cook, stirring, for 1 minute; set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the cheeses and set aside.
• Assembling: Move oven rack to lowest position and preheat to 475°; grease a 9" springform pan and sprinkle with corn meal.
• Roll half the dough out to a 12" circle; reserve other half of dough for another use; line the bottom and sides of the pan with the dough, but don't let any dough hang over the edge; spread 1 1/2 cups of the cheese mixture over the bottom of the crust.
• Spread tomato sauce evenly over the cheese; spread spinach over the tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining cheese; arrange the tomato slices vertically, along the side of the pie, alternating the slices with the basil leaves.
• Place the remaining tomato slices in a circle in the center, alternating with the pepper slices, interspersing red and green strips; bake for 25 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly; let set 5 minutes before removing side of pan and cutting.

SPINACH RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• 1. Saute the onion in butter (or oil) until translucent. Mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs, spinach, cooked onion, cheddar cheese, flour, salt, pepper and basil.
• 2. Line a deep dish pie plate or 8 X 8" square pan with pie crust. Spread the spinach mixture into the crust. Top with sour cream and sprinkle with paprika.
• 3. Bake at 375 F for 45-55 minutes until set and golden brown.