Tuscany's Sweet Spinach Pie
You can never have too many main course recipes, so give Tuscany's Sweet Spinach Pie a try. One portion of this dish contains around 18g of protein, 45g of fat, and a total of 778 calories. This recipe serves 8. This recipe covers 32% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. It is a good option if you're following a vegetarian diet. If you have salt, sugar, egg yolks, and a few other ingredients on hand, you can make it. To use up the butter you could follow this main course with the Cinnamon Butter Cake as a dessert. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes around 2 hours.
Instructions
Make the crust: In a large bowl, in a food processor, or on a work surface, combine the flour, butter, and sugar until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
Add the egg yolks, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt and mix until a dough forms. Shape the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly butter a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan.
Roll two thirds of the dough out into a circle large enough to line the pan and hang well over the sides. If you like, make a series of “fret” shapes along the outer edge of the dough. To do that, fold the edges of dough over, and cut into the edges and gently press “fret” shapes by pinching the dough between thumb and forefinger at a distance of about ½ inch apart. With a fork, pierce the bottom and sides of the crust all over.
Roll the remaining dough out into a circle and cut into strips to form lattices over the top of the filling. Refrigerate all the dough, covered in plastic wrap, until ready to use.
Make the filling: Cook the spinach in a few tablespoons of salted water until tender.
Let cool to room temperature. Squeeze out all the excess water, then finely chop the spinach in a mini food processor. Set aside.
In a food processor, grind the almonds until the texture resembles coarse sand. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar until creamy and light yellow.
Add the almonds and beat until well combined.
Add the spinach, candied peel, and liqueur and stir until well combined.
In a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Slowly fold the whites into the egg yolk mixture.
Pour into the bottom piecrust.
Sprinkle with the pine nuts and top with the dough strips in a lattice pattern.
Bake for about 1 hour, until golden.
Cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve.