Yotam Ottolenghi's herb pie recipe

I was going to say this serves six, but my partner and niece had a go at it while I was writing, so now I'll have to say it feeds four, or two greedy ones. You can use spinach instead of chard, but you'll need more because of its high water content. Serve with a tomato and red onion salad.

70ml olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

500g Swiss chard, stems and leaves thinly shredded and kept separate

150g celery, thinly sliced

50g spring onion, chopped

50g rocket leaves

30g parsley, chopped

30g mint, chopped

20g dill, chopped

120g anari or ricotta, crumbled

100g mature cheddar, grated

60g feta, crumbled

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 free-range eggs

⅓ tsp salt

½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

½ tsp caster sugar

250g filo pastry

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a deep skillet and, on medium heat, sauté the onion for eight minutes without browning. Add the chard stems and the celery, cook for four minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the chard leaves, raise the heat and cook, stirring, for four minutes, until wilted. Add the spring onion, rocket and herbs, cook for two minutes and transfer to a colander. Once cool, squeeze out as much liquid as you can, transfer to a bowl and mix in the cheeses, zest, eggs, salt, pepper and sugar.

Lay out a sheet of filo and brush it with olive oil. Cover with another sheet and repeat until you have five layers of filo brushed with oil and covering an area large enough to line the sides and base of a 22cm pie dish, with extra overhanging the edges. Line the dish with filo, fill with the herb mix and fold the excess pastry over the edges of the filling, trimming to create a 2cm border.

Make another five-layer filo piece as before and place on top. Scrunch up the pastry a little to create a wavy, uneven top, and trim the edges so it just covers the filling. Brush with more oil and bake for 40 minutes, until the filo turns golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi.

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