Open picnic pies

With golden filo pastry and an egg and spinach filling, these make great picnic pies, but are also fantastic served warm from the oven.

Open picnic pies. Credit: Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield

• makes

  4

• prep

  35 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ bunch spring onions, white and pale green part sliced
• 6 rashers bacon, finely chopped
• 200 g mushrooms, finely chopped
• 250 g spinach or silverbeet, shredded
• ½ cup cream
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 16 sheets filo, at room temperature
• 70 g butter, melted
• 4 generous tbsp relish, plus extra to serve, optional
• 40 g parmesan, freshly grated
• Chopped parsley to garnish, optional
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Carefully lower the eggs in and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool under running cold water. Peel.
3. Heat oil in a large pan and add the spring onions and bacon. Sauté for 4 minutes until golden and then add the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms begin to sweat, turn the heat up and allow the excess liquid it to evaporate. Now add the spinach, cream, cayenne, plus salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the cream thickens.
4. Meanwhile, brush four 11 cm diameter loose-base flan tins with butter.
5. Lay 1 sheet of filo pastry on a bench (cover remaining filo with a damp tea towel). Brush with butter. Continue to layer 8 filo sheets in total, brushing each with butter. Repeat to make another stack with remaining pastry.
6. Using a 19 cm plate as a guide, cut 2 circles from one pastry stack. Press pastry circles into 2 of the prepared flan tins, allowing the pastry to evenly overhang the sides. Repeat to line remaining 2 flan tins with pastry.
7. Add a tablespoon of the spinach mix into each flan, followed by a dollop of relish, then carefully nestle the egg in the centre. Divide the remaining spinach around the egg, keeping the top of the egg exposed.
8. Fold edges over filling, pleating to form a border. Brush with a little more butter and sprinkle with parmesan.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with extra relish, if desired.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.