Leek, Spinach, and Artichoke Pie

Yet again I couldn’t sleep, so I sneaked out of bed and warmed up a croissant and sat down in the living room to flip through some food magazines. I don’t know why I thought reading recipes would make me sleepy, because really what happened is that I started getting ideas and I just wanted to run to the grocery store, get ingredients, and spend the rest of the night cooking.

I noticed a few recipes for pies with leeks and other vegetables. I love pies and casseroles and all such things, because a) they can be made in advance (even frozen for days or weeks, if necessary, before being warmed in the oven), b) they are pretty large, so there are always leftovers, and c) they are so comforting. They come out of the oven steaming and with a golden crust, luscious smells escaping from the dish. Yum.

I had a few leeks that needed to be used in a hurry, so I started thinking about what other vegetables I could have with them. And though it’s autumn, I thought that a very green pie would be nice. So it turned into a leek, spinach, and artichoke pie. I took out a piece of paper and scribbled a shopping list that I could give M in the morning. I asked her to pick up some blue cheese to add to it. I had Stilton in mind, but she got Shropshire Blue, and the slightly milder taste of the Shropshire worked really well with the pie. The whole thing turned out pretty well for a recipe created in the middle of the night.

Ingredients:
1 package puff pastry dough
3-4 leeks
olive oil
1 tsp sugar
500 g spinach (frozen or fresh)
6-8 artichoke hearts
200 g blue cheese
2 eggs
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Put the dough in a dish, oiling the dish if necessary. If you have more dough than fits in the dish, save some for a cover for the pie. Pre-bake the dough for 5 minutes at 200 C.
2. Chop the leeks and gently brown them in oil and sugar. Add the spinach. If it is frozen, defrost it first.
3. Chop the artichokes and crumble the cheese. Add them both to the leeks.
4. Lightly beat the eggs and mix them into the rest of the ingredients. Season with black pepper.
5. Put the mixture into the dish. If you had dough leftover, add it as a cover.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 200 C.