Spinach Cheese Casserole In Puff Pastry

* Exported from MasterCook *

SPINACH CHEESE CASSEROLE IN PUFF PASTRY

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Casseroles

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
10 oz Spinach, chopped
-(fresh or frozen)
1 c Cottage OR
-ricotta cheese
1 c Feta cheese
-(crumbled and drained
-of any brine)
1/4 c Parmesan or romano
-cheese, grated
1/4 c Scallions, chopped
4 lg Eggs
2 tb Butter
1 pn Salt
1 pn Pepper
12 oz Puff pastry
-(frozen pastry thawed
-to room temperature,
-or homemade)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the spinach in
boiling water. Drain, rinse with cool water, and
squeeze out as much moisture as you can.

Melt the butter in a small skillet. Cook the
scallions until slightly soft.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cheeses and the
eggs. Mix well. Add the spinach, the butter and
scallions, the salt and pepper and mix again.

Lightly butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch
square baking dish. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry
on a floured surface to make a 14-inch square. Roll
out a second sheet to make a 9-inch square. Lay the
bigger pastry sheet in the buttered dish, draping the
extra pastry over the edges.

Spread the spinach and cheese mixture evenly in the
dish. Put the remaining pastry sheet on top. Trim
excess pastry if necessary and seal the edges closed.
Use scraps of pastry dough to decorate the top of the
pie. Brush top with additional melted butter if
desired. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. or
until pastry is golden brown. Let rest for 10 minutes
before serving.

NOTES:

* Spinach and cheeses in a puff pastry crust -- A
recipe of this type appeared in _Cuisine Magazine_.
The dish is hearty enough to be a main course, but can
also be a side dish to a meat entree. Yield: Serves
4 to 6.

* The casserole may be prepared, covered and
refrigerated for up to 8 hours.

* As an alternative to puff pastry, you might try
using sheets of filo dough, overlapped to make the
bottom and top crusts. I have also baked this dish in
a pie pan using filo dough. One way to cut down on the
calories in this dish is to omit the bottom crust
entirely. This is a very flexible recipe. Other
vegetables can be substituted for the spinach, and
other ingredients like sauteed garlic and mushrooms
can be added.

: Difficulty: moderate.
: Time: 30 minutes preparation, 1 hour baking and
cooling. : Precision: approximate measurement OK.

: Robin Harris Foster
: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft New Jersey, USA
: ihnp4!mtuxo!rfoster
: The apple never falls far from the tree

: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust



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