You can make this with any mixture of spinach, perpetual spinach or Swiss chard –  there’s plenty around on the allotments at the moment. I’ve loosely adapted it from a recipe in ‘A Baker’s Life’ by Paul Hollywood 

Ingredients 

1 tsp olive oil 

2 cloves of garlic 

500g swiss chard leaves or spinach (if using swiss chard, remove the white stalks first) 

200g feta cheese 

150g Philadelphia or other soft white cheese like ricotta 

50g crème fraiche or cream 

25g cheddar or parmesan cheese 

½ tsp ground nutmeg 

2 large or medium eggs beaten 

100g melted butter 

8 sheets of filo pastry 

Method 

1. Wash the chard or spinach leaves carefully and then drain. 

1. Fry the garlic gently in the olive oil until it starts to colour (1-2 minutes), then add the chard or spinach to the pan and increase the heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until it is soft and the liquid has evaporated. 

1. Put the leaves and garlic into a bowl and leave to cool. 

1. Blend the cheeses and crème fraiche together in another bowl and then add the beaten eggs, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. 

1. Add the chard and garlic to the cheese mixture and stir them together. 

1. Heat your oven to 200° /Gas 6. Brush a baking tray with melted butter. 

1. Cut the filo pastry sheets in half to make 16 smaller sheets. Lay the first half-sheet on the baking tray and brush it with melted butter. Then add seven more sheets, brushing each with melted butter as you go. 

1. Put the chard and cheese filling on top of the eight buttered filo sheets, then lay the remaining filo sheets on top, brushing each layer with melted butter, as before. 

1. Brush the top with melted butter and then bake for 35-40 until golden. Serve hot, warm or cold. 

Fiona McGarry, April 2020