Filo, spinach and dill tart

SERVES 6–8

This simple and easy tart can take all kinds of variations. You could swap silverbeet or kale for spinach, and add a little cooked chicken or smoked salmon to the ricotta mixture.

½ cup (60ml) olive oil

1 red onion, finely diced

8 handfuls English spinach (about 1 big bunch), roughly chopped, stalks discarded a few pinches of salt

1 cup (230g) ricotta cheese

½ cup (65g) crumbled feta cheese

4 eggs grated zest of 1 lemon

1 handful dill, finely chopped

100g butter, melted

6 sheets filo pastry ⅔ cup (100g) pine nuts, toasted ¼ cup (40g) sesame seeds

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fanforced). Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the spinach, a handful at a time, waiting for it to wilt a little before adding more. Add a few pinches of salt as you go and cook until all of the spinach has just wilted. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2 Put ricotta in a large bowl; whisk in feta, eggs, lemon zest and dill. Season to taste.

3 Grease a 24cm spring-form cake tin with a little of the melted butter. Lay the pastry out on a work surface. Brush one pastry sheet with the melted butter and gently lay it across the tin, then press into the tin so the excess pastry is hanging over the side. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheets.

4 Spoon spinach mixture into pastry, top with ricotta mixture and sprinkle with pine nuts. Bring pastry edges over the top to make a rough lid. Brush with a little more butter; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry top is golden brown.