The cheese and spinach triangles aren't the prettiest beings, especially since I had Mr 2yrs helping me in the kitchen and things manage to come out 'imperfect' when he's around! But the look of these bad boys don't worry me so much. What's important to me is that my boys will devour these; chock full of iron-rich spinach, and I get to spend quality time with the kids doing something we both love, cooking!
This picture is actually a pretty bad example of what these triangles are supposed to be. You see, Mr 2yrs had the job of buttering the filo pastry and he has quite a heavy hand. You'll notice in the recipe below I do specify to lightly brush and the reason for this is to avoid the pastry becoming soggy and breaking open like mine have above! As many times as I told him he was using too much butter, I just couldn't banish him from the kitchen as we were having so much fun having special one-on-one time. So here they are in all their imperfect glory! They are a product of cooking with love and joy and focusing on having fun rather than following strict rules. I make a batch of these from time to time just to keep in my freezer for those nights I don't feel like cooking, or those occasions when you have unexpected guests. They cook right from frozen, no need to defrost and are a hit with everyone. This recipe is for quite large triangles, but that is only because I like to take shortcuts and make less of them. You can of course make them smaller by cutting thinner pastry strips and making more. In their small size they would be lovely as a party food or lunchbox filler.
“I freeze the triangles separated on lined baking trays, then once frozen, I throw them into a large zip bag for easier storage in the freezer. If you skip the tray step in the freezing process, they'll stick together and all that work will have been for a big sticky mess!”
Cheese and Spinach Triangles an original recipe by Kimberley Kells
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes: 10 large triangles
750g Frozen Spinach (3 boxes), thawed and water squeezed out
4 Eggs, beaten
500g Ricotta
250g Fetta
1 Cup of Parmesan, grated
Sprinkle of Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano
375g Filo Pastry
150g Butter, melted
Step 1- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the filo and butter until mixed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 2- Take 3 sheets of filo pastry and lightly brush in between each layer with melted butter so all 3 are stuck together. Cut once lengthwise so you have 2 large strips.
Step 3- Take 2-3 heaped tablespoons of the mixture and place in the bottom right corner of one of the pastry strips. Fold the corner containing the filling up to meet the vertical edge of the strip, forming a triangle. Continue folding in this manner until you reach the top of the strip. Brush the top corner with butter to stick the completed triangle.
Step 4- Repeat until all the filling and pastry is used up. I usually have 1 or 2 sheets of pastry left at the end and I let the boys make some pastry sculptures (usually scrunch balls!) to be baked in the oven as well.
Step 5- Bake on a lined tray at 180c for 20 minutes or until golden brown.