A recipe – Spinach Pie for Passover (and every day!)

The best thing about big Jewish family dinners is that you have leftover food for a week.

I even find myself cooking a bit more of each dish, so I will have leftovers. The problem is that sometimes you get stuck with too much of it, and have no choice but to eat the same food for a week…

This Friday we celebrated Passover dinner. There was a lot of food, much more than guests would normally eat, for sure. And guess what – I am going to eat this pie every day this week. Because, as you know, Jewish people can't throw food away…

Ingredients

3 eggs

16 oz (450 gr.) cottage cheese

8 oz (225 gr.) sour cream

3.5 oz (100 gr.) feta cheese

2 Pounds (1 Kg) fresh spinach leaves

3 tablespoon of matzo flour (matzo meal)

½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Salt & pepper

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.     Wash the spinach leaves and put them in big pot. Fill the pot halfway with water.

3.     Bring to a boil and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Make sure you do not over cook the leaves.

4.     Meanwhile – in a large bowl mix the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, feta cheese, matzo flour, nutmeg and salt & pepper.

5.     Drain the water from the pot then press the spinach between your hands until all water is removed.

6.     Chop the spinach roughly and add to the cheese mixture.

7.     Mix all together and pour into a round pie pan.

8.     Bake for 40 – 50 minutes or until the pie becomes golden.

* Suggestions:

You can play around with the cheeses – exchange the cottage cheese or the sour cream with yogurt or exchange some of the feta cheese with blue cheese.

If you make this pie not during Passover days, you can change the matzo flour with breadcrumbs, oatmeal or grain wheat.

A recipe – Creamy mushroom soup in less than 20 min.

Every time I have been asked how to make a dish, my answer started with “oh, it is so easy…” I am afraid my friends no longer believe me.

Nophar, my friend, is the same – if you ask her for a recipe it will be something like: chop, heat, mix and it is ready. Nophar is not only an amazingly talented designer, but also a great cook. Here is Nophar’s Creamy mushroom soup, and it really is that easy to make!

Ingredients

1/2 cup of dried mushrooms

1/2 cup of boiling water

1 large onion - finely chopped

1.75 Oz (50 grams) butter

2 boxes of fresh mushrooms (2 kinds) - wash, take of stem and slice

1/4 cup of mushroom Bullion (not necessary)

4-5 cups of milk

1 cup of heavy cream

Salt & pepper

Sour cream

Directions

1.     Put the dried mushrooms and the boiling water in a bowl and cover for 20 min. Strain and finely cut the mushrooms. (You can use the water to replace some of the other fluids in the soup, it'll give it an extra mushroom flavor)

2.     In a big pot, sauté the onions in the butter until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the mushrooms. Stir for 5-7 min.

3.     In a separate small bowl, mix the Bullion with 1/2 of the milk, and Pour this into the pot.

4.     Pour the rest of the milk, heavy cream, salt and pepper (Do not add the sour cream).

5.     Heat through over low - medium heat, while steering, for about 10 min, until soup is thicker. If the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat.

6.     Soup is ready. Put a dollop of sour cream in your serving bowls, pour the soup over it and enjoy!