The first time I had this dish was on a Greek island somewhere, 250 moons from now. Therefore, it is intrinsically linked with summer. The second memory I have of it is eating it in Vienna while I was studying, seems to be quite cheap to make and looks good enough to be sold off at a high margin, I guess!
Never having had anyone to share a traditional recipe with me, this is my version of a classic Greek dish. It's a bit of a cross-cultural experience, though, as I am not too keen on feta cheese, and have therefore substituted it with ricotta. I also like to eat sauce with it, just plain greek yoghurt or crème fraîche, with loads of fresh herbs and the obligatory clove of garlic. The important thing is to use fresh spinach, not frozen, and to add it raw with all the goodness it contains. I like to whip this up as a weekday lunch or light dinner, serving it with a crunchy salad - especially delicious eaten luke-warm on a hot summer's day.
Spinach-ricotta strudel with herb sauce
(serves 4 as a light lunch)
375 g puff pastry
250 g ricotta
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 egg
225 young spinach (chopped)
For the sauce:
200 g crème fraîche
1-2 handfuls of freshly chopped herbs (eg rosemary, parsley, basil, sage, thyme etc)
Spread the puff pastry thinly on a floured surface or directly on the baking tray (lined with non-stick paper) if using ready-rolled. Combine the ricotta, garlic and spinach in a bowl and spread it lengthwise in the middle of the pastry. Fold the two sides of the pastry over to form a strudel, closing neatly on top and at the sides. Beat up the egg with a fork and brush the strudel with it. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes on 220 C.
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