FOOD FRIDAY - WILD GREENS PIES

“True nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories.” - Florence King

I received a couple of enquiries regarding the recipe for my grandmother’s Wild Greens Pies. Fortunately my mother makes them as well and here is her recipe:

WILD GREENS PIES

Ingredients for filling

250 g baby spinach leaves (cleaned and washed, chopped)

150 g green, leafy part of silverbeet (=chard, cleaned and washed, chopped)

150 g of leafy part of mallows (=Malva sylvestris, cleaned and washed, chopped)

100 g green, tender leafy part of dock (=Rumex crispus, cleaned and washed, chopped)

100 g green tender leafy part of wild fennel (=Foeniculum vulgare, cleaned and washed, chopped)

1 bunch of chervil (cleaned and washed, chopped)

1 bunch of parsley (cleaned and washed, chopped)

5 Spring onions (cleaned and washed, chopped)

1 tsp dry mustard powder

Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

1 to 2 tablespoon salt (to taste)

A little olive oil to sauté.

Ingredients for pastry

500 g plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1.5 to 2 cups of water

Olive oil to fry

Method

Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the Spring onions. Add the chopped greens and stir through to coat thoroughly with oil. Cook well until the greens are tender. Add the mustard, salt and pepper, and remove from heat. Leave to cool and strain for a few hours in a colander lined with muslin. Discard juices.

Mix the flour and salt and add the olive oil and lemon juice, mixing thoroughly. Add enough of the water to make a firm but yielding pastry. Knead well and then lay aside in a cool place for 30-40 minutes to rest.

When ready to make the little pies, take some pastry and roll out a very thin sheet a couple of millimetres thick (you may use some corn flour to prevent the pastry sticking). Use a round pastry cutter (8-10 cm diameter) to cut rounds. Fill each round with a heaped teaspoonful of the greens mixture in one half and fold the other half over the filling to make a semicircular little parcel. Use a fork to press the two layers of dough around the filling to seal and decorate the pie. Fry both sides in hot oil until golden brown, and then drain on absorbent kitchen towel. They may be eaten hot or cold.

You may freeze the uncooked pies and fry them unthawed on a later date (ensure the flame is medium rather than high if frying the frozen pies).

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.