Every now and then, we get a huge crop of spinach and don’t even know what to do with it all. So….we make spinach pie!! This recipe comes from my mom, Omi, as my kids call her. Omi was born and raised in Germany and this German recipe is one of my favorites. In fact, this is the dinner I asked for every birthday dinner growing up. Omi traditionally makes both spinach and tomato pies and the two complement each other nicely, both in visual appeal and taste! For a non-vegetarian option, you could add a little cooked bacon into the spinach pie (as my mom does).
Since we are vegetarian, we sometimes add cheese sprinkled on top for a different taste of fat but this step is optional. These pies were made without the cheese topping and they were delicious. What a great way to make use of a bountiful crop of spinach from your garden!
Omi’s Spinach Pie
Course: MainCuisine: GermanDifficulty: Easy2
pies30
minutes40
minutes1
hour10
minutesIngredients
- If making dough from scratch:
2 cups flour
3 Tbsp water
1/4 cup oil
1/2 Tbsp salt
- If not making dough from scratch, you’ll need 2 pre-made pie crusts, which work just fine!
- For the Filling:
20 oz fresh spinach , cleaned and stems removed.
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups white cheddar, gruyere, or any other good melting cheese, shredded (optional)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp flour
2Tbsp butter
1Tbsp kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
Directions
- For the crust:
- Mix the flour, oil, water and salt. Knead into a smooth dough. Cut in half. Roll out 2 circular crusts just larger than your pie plates. Prepare pie plates with butter and parchment paper.
- For the filling:
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Drain the spinach reserving 1/2 cup of the water. Chop the spinach.
- In a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until translucent. In a medium bowl, combine spinach and onions. Stir until well mixed.
- Make a Roux. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir thoroughly. Cook until the flour turns golden brown, about 3 minutes. While whisking continuously, slowly add milk and spinach water. Increase the heat to high and stir until boiling. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add the eggs, nutmeg, and cream. Whisk together until smooth. Set aside.
- Assemble the pies. Lay out the dough in the pie plate and add the spinach & onion mix to the pies.
- Add salt to the cream and egg mixture. Pour into the roux mixture and mix thoroughly. Immediately pour over the spinach until the spinach is just covered. Add the cheese to the top of the pies (optional).
- Bake for 40 minutes, until pie is set and starting to brown. Salt and pepper the pies to taste. Let sit for at least 20 minutes until pie solidifies. Cut and serve!
