Ingredients
| 1 cup split red lentils | |
| ½ teaspoon salt plus extra to sprinkle | |
| 200g spinach leaves | |
| 400g (approximately 1 small head) broccoli | |
| 2 tablespoons olive oil | |
| 1 small red onion, finely chopped | |
| 1 bunch (4 large/6 small) spring onions, trimmed, finely sliced | |
| 250g plain cottage cheese or ricotta | |
| ½ teaspoon baking powder | |
| 200g feta, crumbled | |
| 1 cup soft herbs (mint, coriander, parsley, dill), roughly chopped | |
| 1 teaspoon dried dill | |
| ½ preserved lemon, rinsed, finely chopped or finely grated zest o | |
| 3 eggs | |
| freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg |
Using red lentils for the ‘pastry’ of this pie makes it packed with protein, gluten free and keto friendly. The lentil crust does not have the crispness of pastry, but it gives you all the experience of a regular pie. If you reheat a piece in an air fryer, after 8 minutes at 180℃ the pastry crisps up surprisingly well.
Use adult spinach (discarding the tough stems before weighing out 200g of leaves) or heartier bagged leaves such as The Fresh Grower brand spinach leaves – salad-style baby spinach is too tender to massage.
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Instructions
| 1. | Put the lentils and salt in a blender with 350ml water and leave to soak for at least 1 hour. |
| 2. | Heat the oven to 200℃ fan bake. |
| 3. | Put the spinach leaves in a colander, sprinkle with a good amount of salt, then massage the salt well into the spinach. |
| 4. | Leave to wilt for 10 minutes then, using your hands, squeeze out as much water as you can. Chop finely and set aside. |
| 5. | Cut the florets off the broccoli stem, finely chop and set aside. |
| 6. | Cut off the tough outer skin of the broccoli stem and discard. |
| 7. | Grate the tender inner stem and set aside. |
| 8. | Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. |
| 9. | Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. |
| 10. | Add the florets and grated broccoli stem and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. |
| 11. | Remove from the heat, stir in the spring onions and set aside to cool a little. |
| 12. | To make the crust, blend the soaked lentils for 30 seconds, stir and rest for a minute then add half the cottage cheese and blend for another 30 seconds to make a batter. |
| 13. | Sprinkle over the baking powder and blend to mix through. Set aside. |
| 14. | Mix together the feta, the rest of the cottage cheese, herbs, dried dill, lemon, squeezed spinach and onion-broccoli mixture in a large bowl. |
| 15. | In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with a good grind of pepper and a small grate of nutmeg. |
| 16. | Stir this into the greens and mix well. |
| 17. | Line the base of a metal baking dish or roasting dish (about 22cm x 27cm) with a piece of baking paper. |
| 18. | Drizzle with the remaining oil, oiling up the sides of the dish. |
| 19. | Pour over half the lentil batter to cover the bottom of the dish. |
| 20. | Bake for 5 minutes then remove and reduce the oven to 180℃ fan bake |
| 21. | Top the batter with the greens and feta mix, spreading it evenly, then drizzle the top with the remaining batter. |
| 22. | Bake for 25- 30 minutes until golden. Serve hot or cold. |
Recipes & food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Fiona Lascelles