Cheese and Spinach Tarts

Crispy, flaky filo pastry, salty feta and iron rich spinach are a tried and tested combo. Here I've made them into tarts rather than the traditional triangles, they look impressive, don't have the risk of the filling spilling and are an excellent size to serve with a side salad as a light starter or brunch.

what you’ll need

250gm baby spinach

150gm feta cheese

1cup grated tasty cheese

6 sheets filo pastry

Spray oil

Melted butter

Method

Finely chop  spinach and add to a bowl with the crumbled fetta and grated tasty cheese.  Mix well with your fingers breaking up the fetta a bit as you go.

Spray 4 x 8cm removable base tart cases with olive oil.

Take a sheet of filo pastry and spray lightly with olive oil. Repeat with  3 more sheets of filo. Cut the sheets into 4 then layer the sheets into the tart shells placing them in at  90^o angles so as to cover the whole base and come up past the top of the tart case.

Fill cases with spinach filling, packing down firmly. (See tips)

Bring the edges of the filo pastry in towards the center of the tart. Spray the remaining sheets of filo lightly with oil. Cut into strips, scrunch and use to fill in the remainder of the top of the tart, piling up high as you go. (See tips)

Preheat oven to 180oC. Melt butter and brush liberally over the top of the tarts. Cook for 15—20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

 Tips:

*This filing mixture makes more than needed for 4 tarts. Either freeze the excess or repeat the process to make 8 tarts.

*You may not need all the extra filo to fill in the tart. Scrunch well and pack in quite tightly to give the tart some height and extra crunch.

 * Tarts can be frozen, uncooked (be careful as the tarts are very fragile, best frozen in a container that fits the tarts in one layer). Defrost before cooking as above.

* Other flavors can be added,  finely chopped spring onions, finely chopped roasted capsicum or  even bacon or ham.