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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie w/ Bacon - Low Carb

This evening I was in the mood for my Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie. I had all the ingredients on hand. I decided to add in some crumbled cooked bacon to switch it up a bit. It turned out amazing. I have several different versions of this pie. My favorite is my original version with crust. I also have a more quiche-like version that doesn't include any almond flour. My second favorite version is my "Impossible Pie" version that makes its own crust (much like the old Bisquick Impossible Pies). It's a bit quicker to make when you aren't in the mood to make the crust (although if you have a few extra minutes, the crust version is awesome). My favorite thing about making this dish is that it provides me with a quick and delicious lunch for several days afterward. I have eaten this pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner...and for all 3 meals in one day, believe it or not. It reminds me of one of my old favorites, Spanakopita. I included my recipe below (with the optional bacon added). I snapped a few photos below. Enjoy!


Crust is ready for the oven
Filling is poured into the partially baked crust and ready to bake.
Fresh out of the oven.





Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie

Ingredients:


Crust:

2 cups almond flour
3 tablespoons cold butter, diced into small cubes
1 egg
1 teaspoon Greek Seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning), optional 

Filling:

10 oz. fresh spinach (up to 16 oz), cooked, squeezed dry and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup diced onion (or 3 sliced green spring onions)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh dill)
1 to 2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 large eggs (or 1-1/4 cups Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup half-and-half, cream or milk
4 strips of crumbled cooked bacon, optional

Directions:


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Place all crust ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cut butter and egg into flour with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles small pebbles and the flour is thoroughly moistened (the same way you prepare a pie crust).  Press crust mixture into a 9.5 or 10" pie dish or tart pan using your hands and fingertips. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from oven and set aside.

Increase oven temp to 350 degrees F.  In a non-stick skillet, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent; remove and set aside.  In the same skillet, saute spinach, just until wilted.  Drain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible (I use a mesh strainer and press it with the back of a large spoon). Coarsely chop spinach.


Place drained and chopped spinach in a medium bowl; add cooked onions and garlic, feta, dill, lemon zest, pepper, eggs and half-and-half. Stir in optional bacon; mix until well combined. Pour mixture into lightly baked crust and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes; lower oven temp to 325 F (to prevent edge of crust from over browning); bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until filling and eggs are set and cooked. If the center still seems a little jiggly, cook an additional few minutes. If edges of crust begin browning too quickly, loosely cover pie with foil near the latter part of cook time.

           

7 comments:

  1. Hi GGC,

    Another worthy addition to your Spinach/Feta Pie Collection! Spanakopita was a favorite of mine, too, but because of your scrumptious recipes I don't miss it one bit. :-)

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  2. Hi CyberSis,

    Glad you are enjoying it too! Now, if I could only figure out how to make almond flour "flaky"...LOL. :-)

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  3. Oh wow! This looks and sounds amazing. I made your Impossible Pie version a while back and really loved it, so I can't wait to make this one-- I'm with you, I love having something delicious several meals in a row ;)

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  4. Thanks, Pug! I hope you enjoy this one, too. It's my favorite version. I just finished a piece for lunch. :-)

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  5. I've made this numerous times and hubby always says "THIS is REALLY good" :)
    I just made it again and made a few changes, one being I replaced 20% of the almond flour with ground flax seeds. I'm hoping the flax seed works it's magic (nut flours make me a little irregular!) I didn't notice any difference in the taste ..was still great! I also added a cup of diced ham left over from the holidays and that added a nice flavour. If anyone hasn't already tried it - I suggest rolling the 'dough' out between two squares of cling wrap.
    Thanks again for all the work on this blog - I'd never have gotten this far (lowered my pre diabetic numbers and lost 20lb's) without this site!!

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  6. For me, I just omit the crust all together on all the quiches. Never seem to think it is worth the extra carbs or time and energy. Just makes a crustless quiche and still yummy.

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  7. I tried this recipe and it was awesome. I added ham instead of the bacon but it turn out just like the recipe pictures. I loved the almond flour crust. I expected it to be hard and crunch, but quite the contrary. It stayed together and was flaky. I treated it like any other pie crust and refrigerated it for a half an hour before baking. It did well. Thank you!

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