This recipe is a bit out of my comfort zone since I don’t make a lot of traditional greek recipes, but I am sure its going to be one you are going to love if you have tried greek Horta in a greek restaurant: its a traditional greek hortopita. The inspiration came from my local deli which is very well stocked. When I mentioned to Marilia, one of the very friend and helpful personnel of the store that I consider making a traditional greek hortopita she fetched for me all of the greens they had available that I could use for the pita: spinach, chervil, mediterranean hartwort, dandelions, chard: all of these green leafy vegetables are a great source of magnesium, vitamin K and flavonoids. In order to make the pie ‘chunkier’ I added a grated zucchini, this is a tip from my friend Maria who always adds zucchinis in her spinach pie. I looked into chervil’s nutritional properties and apparently they are quite a few: it has been used in traditional medicine to reduce blood pressure levels and increase bowel motility. It is also a good source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, iron, magnesium and flavonoids, helping iron absorption. Chards are a great source of vitamin K, magnesium, calcium and iron. This one is a recipe you should definitely fry as its not only very nutritious but also easy and super tasty!
Ingredients
- 6 phyllo sheets
- A bag of mixed Mediterranean greens: a bunch of chervil, bag of spinach, a bunch of mediterranean hartwort, a bunch of chard and one bunch of dandelions
- A bunch of fresh dill, chopped
- 1 bunch of onion greens, sliced
- 1zucchini, grated
- 1 block of greek feta cheese, crushed with a fork
- 2 eggs
- Extra virgin olive oil
- A few black cumin seeds
Preparation
- Pre heat the oven to 180C
- Line a tray with parchment paper and lay one by one 3 phyllo seeds which have been oiled on both sides, cutting the sides if necessary.
- In a large pan, add 2tbs of olive oil and saute the sliced onion greens adding the mix of greens (cut in chunks with your hands)and the dill.
- Grate the zucchini, pressing firmly to remove the excess water and add in the pan towards the end, mixing with the rest of herbs.
- In a bowl, crush the feta cheese with a fork and mix with the two eggs and a pinch of black pepper.
- Add the Horta mixture in the oiled phyllo sheets, then add the feta cheese mixture and cover with 3 more phyllo sheets oiled in both sides.
- Seal the pie by pressing firmly with the fingers (ad a bit more olive oil or water if needed to make it stick)
- Brush the top phyllo layer with some olive oil and drizzle with some water and the nigella seeds
- Carve the phyllo pie in pieces using a knife in order to make the cutting easier later.
- Bake for around 20-30 mins until the phyllo is golden