Horta pie (hortopita)
In a lot of Mediterranean countries, foraging for wild greens (horta in Greek) is part of life. I have often asked why we don’t we do this more back home. There is plenty to choose from: nettles, wild parsley, purslane, sea kale, dandelions and wild garlic to name but a few. This pie is also well worth making with leaves you can buy, such as chard, spinach, radicchio or rocket.
Ingredients
- 1kg/2lb 4oz mixed greens (such as dandelion leaves, wild garlic, nettles, sea beet, spear-leaved orache, sea arrowgrass, spinach, chard), washed and chopped
- 2 medium or 3 small onions, halved and sliced
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 2 free-range eggs
- 600g/1lb 5oz feta, crumbled or chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 20 turns black peppermill
- olive oil, for greasing and brushing
- 10 sheets filo pastry
Method
To make the filling, combine the greens, onions and lemon juice in a very large bowl, then add the eggs and feta and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Oil the base of a 40x40cm/16x16in ovenproof dish. Line with a sheet of filo pastry, brush with olive oil, then place another sheet of filo on top. Continue until you have five oiled sheets of filo pastry in the dish. Put the vegetable mixture in the dish. Cover with the remaining five sheets of filo, oiling between each layer. Fold in the pastry from the edges to enclose the filling and brush the top with more olive oil.
Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. If it is browning too quickly, cover it with a sheet of foil. Delicious served warm or cold.
