Rustic Greek Pie | Simple By Cindy

I love Greek cuisine and its combination of ingredients. Although I had never tasted haloumi cheese, when I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it. It turns out I liked the cheese, and I loved it in this recipe.

Inspired by Mediterranean cuisine, this rich, Greek pie is similar to a tiropita. A favorite Greek mid-morning snack, a tiropita is a traditional cheese pie made with a light, buttery phyllo dough and filled with a cheese and egg mixture.

The author of this recipe altered some of the traditional ingredients for a tiropita. I also made an adjustment and switched the frozen shortcrust with a puff pastry sheet. I could not find frozen shortcrust at my supermarket, and the puff pastry worked well. I really enjoyed the combination of the feta and the haloumi cheeses, making this pie both sweet and savory. The spinach and the oregano gave it a nice Mediterranean aroma. This rustic Greek pie would work well as a side dish or an appetizer. For any vegetarians out there, this would make a fantastic main dish.

This recipe is courtesy of Vegetarian Cooking and will serve 4 people who will love this version of Greek pie.

Ingredients for Rustic Greek Pie

1 pound packet of frozen spinach, thawed
1 large sheet of frozen shortcrust (pie) pastry, thawed (I used puff pastry sheets)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 1/2 oz. haloumi cheese, grated
4 1/2 oz. (3/4 cup) crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp. oregano leaves
2 eggs
2 oz. (1/4 cup) pouring cream (whipping or heavy cream)
Lemon wedges to serve

Preheat the oven to 415.

Squeeze out the excess liquid from the spinach.

Place the pastry (or puff pastry sheet) on a baking tray.