There are quite few steps to this pie, and although none of them are particularly difficult, you need to allow time so you don't get in a tizz!
Ingredients
—5 size 5 (small) free-range eggs, at room temperature 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped 90g (3 oz) butter 1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg ¼ tsp fennel seeds Freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 Tbsp pine nuts Olive oil Flaky sea salt 450g (about 1 lb) silverbeet Salt 1 Tbsp each chopped mint and parsley 100g (3½ oz) sour cream 2 Tbsp panko crumbs 100g (3½ oz) feta, patted dry with paper towels and crumbled 12 sheets filo pastry
Method
—1 Carefully lower eggs into a saucepan of gently boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Pour off hot water and let the cold tap run over them until they feel cool. Shell carefully and set aside.
2 Put onion in a small saucepan with half the butter. Cover pan with a lid and cook onion slowly for about 10 minutes until tender and just starting to colour. Add garlic, nutmeg, fennel seeds and black pepper and turn off the heat.
3 Toast pine nuts in a small oiled frying pan (skillet), until golden. Tip onto a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
4 Meanwhile, trim silverbeet and cut off the stalks. Chop stalks roughly and cook in a large saucepan of salted water for 3 minutes. Chop silverbeet leaves and add to pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. Drain. Refresh silverbeet with plenty of cold water, then when cool enough to handle, wring out excess water. Chop coarsely.
5 Transfer silverbeet to a bowl and add onion, scraping in all the buttery seasonings from the pan. Season silverbeet with ½ teaspoon of salt and add herbs, sour cream and panko crumbs. Mix together, then add in feta and pine nuts.
6 Melt the rest of the butter. Lay first sheet of filo pastry on a baking tray (sheet) lined with baking (parchment) paper and brush lightly with butter. Lay a second filo sheet on top and brush with butter. Continue in this way until all the sheets of pastry are stacked up but butter the top sheet only around the edges.
7 Place pastry with the long side parallel to the bench, then put silverbeet mixture in a line along closest edge, 4cm (1½“) in from sides. Make 5 indentations for the eggs, then nestle them in and carefully spread a little of the mixture over the top of them; go gently to ensure you don’t break the egg whites. Fold sides of pastry in by about 3cm (a good inch), then roll pastry up like a Swiss roll, ending with the edges of pastry underneath to stop the pastry log unrolling.
8 Brush pastry top with butter. Have oven preheated to 180°C (350°C). Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is a good golden brown; drape with tin foil if it colours too quickly. Remove filo from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before sliding it on to a board and cutting into slices with a serrated knife or bread knife.
Recipe Notes
It is important the eggs are at room temperature so the shells don’t crack when lowered into the hot water. Read about cooking eggs here Eggs. And use small eggs as large eggs are too big to enclose in the filling.
Read all the tips you need for making a perfect filo pie here Filo
And look at the pics below.
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- Gently cover the eggs with silverbeet mixture.
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- Tuck in the sides of the pastry.
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- Roll tightly but don’t stretch the pastry, and don’t let the pastry edges splay out as you roll.
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- Roll the log of filo so the seam is underneath to stop it unfurling.
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- Cooked to perfection – a deep golden brown.
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- Slice with a serrated knife or a bread knife.
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- Don’t worry about flaking pastry – scoop it all up!
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