Spinach and feta pie - recipe

I'm a big pie fan.  Ask any of my family and they'll tell you that the best pies of all time came from Darwin market (Lancashire).  Darwin is where my Gran and Grandpa lived - and where my Dad grew up.  Whenever we went to visit, there was always a trip to Darwin market to stock up on pies: steak pies, minced meat pies, apple pies and wimberry pies.  Our freezer was always full of pies.

My favourite was the wimberry pie.  As far as I can tell, wimberries are a Northern thing.  They're pretty similar to a blueberry but much juicier and more flavoursome.  I might try making a pie with blueberries to see how it measures up.

I thought a spinach and feta pie would be a nice summery choice for a weeknight tea - I remember eating something similar on holiday in Greece.  I was really pleased with how it turned out - totally delish served with a tomato salad and some buttered jersey royals.

Writing this post is proving difficult, as I've got a sleepy kitten climbing all over me and demanding attention!

Ingredients:
1 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
1 bag of fresh spinach leaves (250g), washed and drained
Half a nutmeg nut finely grated, or a teaspoon of dried nutmeg
1 pack of feta cheese (200g)
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons of pine nuts, lightly toasted
6 sheets shop-bought pre-rolled filo pastry (I used Jus Rol, from the fridge section.  You can also buy it frozen but make sure it's fully defrosted before use)

Method:
Turn the oven on to 180c

Gently fry the onions in a little butter or oil until soft and cooked through but not browned.  Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, being careful not to overcook it.

Over a very low heat, add the spinach to the onions and garlic and cook until wilted.  It helps to keep turning the spinach, to make sure it cooks evenly.

Tip into a bowl, draining off excess liquid.  Leave to cool for a few minutes, then add the nutmeg, eggs, toasted pine nuts and crumble in the feta.  Mix well.

Butter a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

Layer approximately 6 sheets of filo pastry, with plenty overhanging the tin.  Lightly brush each sheet with butter as you go.

Tip the spinach mix in and scrunch over the excess pastry.  If the pastry doesn't quite cover the spinach mix, use another sheet of filo to fill any gaps.

Brush the top with a little more butter and pop into the oven.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Tapas in London - Lola Rojo restaurant review

As a naturally greedy person, tapas is a dream for me as it seems to give you license to order as much food as you like.  I love it.

Our visit to Lola Rojo on Monday was supposed to be for a quick glass of wine and a small snackette before Jamie's cookery school but I still managed to sneak in five dishes!

When you walk into Lola Rojo, it's immediately apparent that this isn't your average tapas bar.  The sophisticated decor is cool white, with flashes of red - sort of art gallery meets boutique hotel.
The food is an adventurous, modern take on tapas.  There are some of the old classics but usually with a creative twist.

I've eaten at the restaurant several times since it opened in 2006 and have always been impressed with the presentation of the dishes.  Most also taste fantastic but occasionally some miss their mark.

The crispy aubergine with orange blossom honey was good but I didn't taste the honey.  The chestnut mushroom with manchego was a big let down.  This was one of the dishes I'd picked out on the menu earlier in the day and had been drooling over.  The dish looked lovely but the mushrooms weren't cooked through - part warm part raw - the accompanying sauce was bland and the taste of manchego didn't shine through.  Shame.

The cheese croquettes were a triumph.  Ok, so nothing particularly unusual about them but they were presented well, crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle.  Oh and really, really cheesy.  Delish.

If there's octopus on the menu, I'll order it.  And I did. In this case, grilled octopus, roasted potatoes and onion with aioli sauce.  The octopus was excellent, very tender.  The roasted potatoes appeared to be boiled and the aioli lacked oomph. 

The baby squid with honey and spinach was really good.  We ordered it without the chorizo but it was still flavoursome and tender.  Not sure the spinach added much though.

The all-Spanish wine list is excellent with lovely categories and descriptions to help you choose.  Most of the bottles are reasonably priced too, in the £20 region.

All in all, a meal at Lola Rojo is an experience.  You definitely feel like you've been somewhere different, it's just a shame that a couple of the dishes let them down.

Crispy aubergine

Chestnut mushroom with manchego

Cheese croquettes

Grilled octopus

Baby squid with honey and spinach

Home ec for grown ups - Recipease review

I haven't had a cookery lesson since I was at school, when all I remember making was pineapple upside down cake and a mess.

As my interest in cooking has grown, I've been keen to try out some lessons, so was v pleased with a thoughtful present of vouchers for Recipease.

Jamie Oliver's Recipease shop opened in Clapham Junction just over two years ago.  At the front of the shop you can buy all the Jamie Oliver branded goods your heart desires, as well as choose from a decent selection of freshly prepared ready meals.

At the back of the shop is a small space created as a cookery school.  Most of the classes on offer aren't particularly technical, with the emphasis more on making recipes that you can easily replicate at home.

My sister and I signed up for the South Indian curry course (Two hours, £40 per person including a glass of vino).

I was surprised by how many people were on the course - around 20 people to two instructors.  This meant that you didn't get any one-to-one tuition, which I thought was a shame. 

And there was no sign of Jamie but the two instructors were excellent - very friendly and good fun.

You work in pairs to create your dishes, in this case vegetable bhajis, lemon pickle and curry paste from scratch, which we turned into prawn curry.  The instructors demonstrate the recipes in stages, you then return to your work station where the ingredients are laid out for you and make the dishes. 

The prep and cooking took about an hour and a half.  You then have the opportunity to buy another drink and sit down to enjoy the fruits of your labour.  Anything you don't eat, you can take home along with the recipes.

Compared to the cost of other cookery courses, I think this is really good value.  The classes do assume almost zero knowledge/skill though, so can't cook/won't cook types are likely to gain the most from them.

The cookery school

Rach enjoying her vino

Ingredients ready to go

Vegetable bhaji ingredients

Frying off mustard seeds

Spices for the curry paste

Bhaji prep underway - beautiful colours

Curry paste pre-tomato puree

Easy lemon pickle

Curry paste

Finished result (although we didn't make the bread, rice or coriander sauce)

Feeding the five thousand - fish restaurant in Portugal

We just got back from a fab trip to Portugal, visiting Marc's family.  As always, it was a fairly well lubricated few days.  Fortunately for us, local Portuguese wine is both surprisingly cheap and perfectly quaffable.

Being beside the seaside meant that eating out was mainly fishy. One restaurant in particular, Casa de Pasto Ze Leiteiro, was really excellent.  It's not somewhere you'd ever find on your own as a tourist and, in fact if you did, you'd probably walk straight past. 

The place is definitely basic but is apparently always packed and for very good reason.  The princely sum of 10 Euros buys you a seat at the table.  A very long table that you will undoubtedly be sharing with other people - but that's all part of the fun.  Once seated the food starts flowing, starting with fresh bread rolls and a very flavoursome tomato salad.  The waiters then start bringing platters of fish.  There's no menu, just whatever has been caught that morning simply grilled.  It's as fresh as can be and you can certainly tell.  We had squid, sea bass, wild salmon, dorado and probably others that I've forgotten and I enjoyed every mouthful.

Pudding, included in the price is something very simple, such as creme caramel or baked apple.

If you ever happen to be in the Algarve, it's worth a trip. Unsurprisingly, they don't have a website but this is the address:

Rua Portas do Mar, Armação de Pêra

The pictures of the beaches are from Sagres, where Marc and I stayed at a gorgeous boutique hotel called Memmo Baleeira . Sagres is a little surf town, very different from the rest of the Algarve - very unspoilt with absolutely stunning, virtually empty beaches.