Home
Recipes
Zeljanica (cheese & spinach pie)

Cheese & spinach pie cut into squares on a board

Zeljanica (cheese & spinach pie)

Name: Zeljanica (cheese & spinach pie)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: Serves 9-12
Ingredients: vegetable oil for the tin; 4 medium eggs; 500g curd cheese crumbled (this can be found in specialist shops), or use 250g ricotta mixed with 250g mascarpone; 250g feta crumbled; 2 tbsp soured cream or crème fraîche; 500g frozen spinach defrosted and excess moisture wrung out in a clean tea towel; 100ml olive oil; 300ml natural yogurt; 1 tsp baking powder; 500g filo pastry; 20g unsalted butter

Stela Holder

Save recipe

Serves 9-12

More effort

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 45 mins

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.2 ratingsRate

loading...

Make this moreish Middle Eastern-inspired pie for a special occasion when you're feeding a crowd. It's made with curd cheese, but you can use ricotta and mascarpone instead

Freezable

Vegetarian

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Apple hand pies

A star rating of 4.6 out of 5.7 ratings

Artichoke & broad bean tart with watercress pesto

A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.4 ratings

Asparagus, lemon & ricotta tart

A star rating of 3.6 out of 5.7 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

vegetable oil

for the tin
4 medium eggs
500g curd cheese

crumbled (this can be found in specialist shops), or use 250g ricotta mixed with 250g mascarpone
250g feta

crumbled
2 tbsp soured cream

or crème fraîche
500g frozen spinach

defrosted and excess moisture wrung out in a clean tea towel
100ml olive oil
300ml natural yogurt
1 tsp baking powder
500g filo pastry
20g unsalted butter

Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.

Nutrition: Per serving

kcal445
fat30g
saturates14g
carbs27g
sugars5g
fibre3g
protein15g
salt1.2g

Method

step 1

Lightly oil a roasting tin (ours was about 25 x 35cm and 4cm deep) and line with baking parchment. Mix the eggs, cheeses, soured cream or crème fraîche, spinach and some seasoning together in a bowl.
step 2

In another bowl, mix together the oil, yogurt and baking powder. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
step 3

Cut the filo sheets in half so they are roughly the size of the tin. Put one filo sheet in the tin and evenly brush over 1-2 tbsp of the yogurt mixture using pastry brush. Top with another filo sheet, brush over more yogurt mixture and repeat until you’ve used half the filo.
step 4

Pour over the cheese filling, then gently spread it to the edges using a spatula. Continue layering the rest of the filo sheets and yogurt mix. Spread any remaining yogurt mix over the top of the final filo sheet.
step 5

Cut the pie into squares (either nine or 12, depending on how big you want the pieces to be). Will keep frozen for up to a month. Defrost completely in the fridge overnight before cooking. Top each square with a small knob of butter, then bake for 20 mins. Reduce the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and bake for another 25-30 mins until browned on top. Leave to cool slightly before serving warm. Will keep covered and chilled for up to two days.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2022

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.2 ratings

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now