Spinach and Ricotta Challah

I think this is the prettiest bread I've ever baked.  Honestly, though, I stood in my kitchen beaming like I'd sculpted some masterpiece.  This is a challah filled with spinach and ricotta and pine nuts, shaped into a mock braid, and sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds.  When I realized the method for braiding was the same I had used for my Braided Lemon Bread, I dove right in.  Here's a how-to guide.

Before you assemble: Make sure your dough is on a parchment sheet or silicone mat.  Otherwise, it will be almost impossible after to move to the baking pan while keeping it intact.
1. Cut the rectangle of dough so there are tabs on the top and bottom, and evenly spaced strips on either side.  Spread the filling down the middle.  Try to avoid snacking on too many of the toasted pine nuts and depleting them, which is easier said than done.
2. Fold down the top tab, then fold over one side strip, followed by the one on the opposite side, repeating all the way down.  Easy!  So you're either folding left-right-left-right, or right-left-right-left.
3. Before you finish folding all the strips, fold the bottom tab up, then braid the remaining strips over it.  You might have noticed I don't have an even number of strips on each side -- don't repeat my mistake.  If you do, no big deal.  I just tucked the last extra strip under.  Brush on an egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, and you're ready to bake!

Joe loved the bread and devoured it.  I froze the second loaf, because he vetoed my idea of giving it away.  I have to confess, however, that I didn't love the bread as much as I thought I would.  I felt like the filling could benefit from a stronger flavor like goat cheese or feta.  Also, the dough was just too wet and I had to add nearly an extra cup of flour to make the dough come together, even though I weighed the ingredients so measurements should have been precise.  And as nice as the bread was, I found myself thinking the flaky phyllo layers of spanakopita were superior.  Still, all the while, I never got tired of marveling at how pretty my loaves were.

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie.  In this version, the papery-thin layers of phyllo pastry hold a spinach filling with leeks, scallions, dill, feta, Parmesan, and ricotta.  Agapi Stassinopoulos said on The Martha Stewart Show that the inclusion of ricotta is untraditional but makes the pie sweeter.  She happens to be Arianna Huffington's sister, and this is their mother's recipe.

Joe and I liked this spanakopita, but we could have done without the ricotta and amped up the feta in this dish instead.  We really like feta, and I had followed the recipe and added only three-quarters of the 8-ounce block.  Our other criticism was we would have preferred a shallower pie with a lower ratio of spinach to pastry, because you get a big mouthful of spinach and little phyllo by comparison.  After all, there's three pounds of spinach in this dish!

Like all spanakopita dishes it takes some time to put together, and my least favorite part is squeezing the water out of fistfuls of spinach.  I used thawed frozen spinach, but if you go the fresh route you'll still have to steam or saute the spinach to release the water from the leaves to avoid a soggy pie.  Also, I used a decidedly non-Greek cooking vessel -- the wok.  There was so much filling it would have come up to the rim of my saute pan, making it difficult to stir.

But when it's all assembled and ready to go in the oven, the house has started to warm up and you can just sit back and wait.  And think back to last week when it was sunny and springlike, instead of cold and grey like today.  And then dig into some good spinach pie.

Mixing Up the Chicken Pot Pie

This idea was born out of Thanksgiving leftovers.  After a few days of eating the same-old, I made a pot pie filling and threw in the turkey with the roasted butternut squash and spinach I had served on the holiday table, then topped it with pie dough and baked.  Sounds weird, I know, but it's incredibly good.  So good that I've roasted whole chickens and butternut squashes a few times since just to have the pie all over again.

The squash is a nice change from the carrots that often feature in pot pies.  And the idea of spinach in the filling may wrinkle noses, but it's a nice contrast for the richness, and the taste and texture are surprisingly mild.  Joe really loved it.  After this, I'm not sure we'll ever go back to ol' peas-and-carrots chicken pot pie again.

Flour is stirred into the cooked onions, carrot, and celery, and then chicken stock is added to make the creamy sauce.  The chicken, butternut squash, and spinach are added.  Rounds of dough are cut for the pie tops, and holes are made in the top to let steam escape.

This thrown-together recipe makes a lot.  As in a 10-inch deep-dish pie plus two individual pies.  You can eat them for days, freeze them, or halve the recipe.  It's nice to be able to pull a homemade pot pie out of the freezer on a hectic day, far better than anything you can buy from the frozen section.

Spinach in Small Bites

I was amazed by the reception these spinach mini-tarts got. I knew they were good, but I didn't know they were that good! So I'm posting them here, and it's not my recipe and I haven't changed much except to show how to make them minis. Personally, I like the higher crust-to-filling ratio you get from the minis, and they're more fun for parties!

Oh, and I used Martha Stewart's pate brisee instead of the crust in the original recipe, which called for shortening. Shortening weirds me out, and the pate brisee was easy because I've got it committed to memory. I made them in a square tart mini pan with 2-inch wells that's cool because you push up the bottoms for easy extraction.

Mini Spinach & Pine Nut Tarts
Adapted from Emeril's Pine Nut and Spinach Tart
Half-recipe of Martha Stewart's pate brisee
½ cup pine nuts (about 3 oz)
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
10 oz fresh spinach, stems removed, well rinsed and chopped, or 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess liquid
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 large eggs
¾ cup heavy cream (I prefer half-and-half in this)
½ cup (about 3 oz) crumbled goat cheese, or feta

Preheat oven to 375°.
Roll out the chilled pate brisee and cut it into 2½-inch squares. Tuck each square into the wells of a mini-tart pan. A little excess riding above the sides of the wells is fine. Lightly wrap a sheet of foil over the top of the pan and bake for 5 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 5 more. Allow the crusts to cool.

In a dry pan, toast the pine nuts for a few minutes until fragrant. Set the nuts aside. Heat the oil over medium-high heat, then add the onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add the spinach, salt, and pepper and cook the liquid is evaporated, 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. In a large bowl whisk the eggs and cream (or half-and-half). Stir in the spinach, cheese, and half of the pine nuts. Spoon the filling into the crusts, almost to the top of each, and sprinkle the reserved nuts on top.

Set the pan on a baking sheet to avoid any leakage from dripping in the oven. Bake them for 20 minutes, until golden. When the pan is cool enough to handle, remove the tarts, then repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Makes about 30.