Ingredients
- Ready made short crust pastry dough, ready to roll.
- 450g baby spinach / washed
- 1 large red onion / peeled and sliced
- A knob of unsalted butter
- Caster sugar
- Dash of balsamic vinegar
- 400ml whipping cream
- 2 Medium eggs
- 1 Medium egg / separate the yolk and egg white
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 clove of garlic / peeled and puree
- 200g feta cheese / cut into 1cm cubes
- 125g cherry tomatoes / halved
- vegetable oil
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
- First you need to blind bake the pastry. Roll the dough out thin and gently line the tin with the pastry and press into the edge. Trim off the top using a sharp knife and keep the trimmings on the side.
- Prick the base with a fork and cover with tin foil, folding the foil over the edge. Weigh it with baking beans or dried pulse.
- Bake the case for 15 minutes and remove the foil and baking beans. You can use the left over dough trimming to patch any part of the case that has shrunk too much on the side.
- Brush the case with egg white and bake for another 10 minutes until it is lightly coloured.
- Check the oven is heated to 190 degrees C.
- Put the washed spinach into a large saucepan with just the water thats left on the leafs after washing. Cover with a tight lid and cook for 10min over low heat stirring half way through.
- While the spinach is cooking, caramelise the red onion by first putting the unsalted butter to a pan over low heat then add the sliced onions. When it begins to soften, sprinkle with some caster sugar and let it cook over low heat for roughly 5min, add a little dash of balsamic vinegar and cook for another 1min or so then turn off the heat.
- Check the spinach is wilted and tender. Drain the spinach into a sieve, and try pressing out as much water as possible. Then coarsely chop it with a large sharp knife.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cream, 2 eggs, the egg yolk, parmesan and garlic puree. Season with little salt and pepper. Mix the spinach with the custard, then gently fold in half of the Feta cheese.
- Line the bottom of the case with all the caramelised onion, then carefully pour the filling into the case.
