Spinach cheese casserole in puff pastry

 
                  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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