Zelnik (Macedoniqn Spinach Pie)

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
1kg plain flour
1 packet active, dried, yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
warm water

For the Filling:
600g spinach
100g Feta cheese, crumbled
200g bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled (optional)
200g sauerkraut, drained and chopped (more typical for winter versions)
1 potato, very finely chopped
100g swede or turnip, very finely chopped
(any other vegetables of your choice)
sunflower oil for frying
salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp vegeta (or use vegeta seasoning substitute)

Method:

Begin with the filling: Heat the oil in a pan, add the potato, root vegetables (and any other vegetables) and fry for about 6 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the sauerkraut at this point and fry for 2 minutes more. Now finely chop the spinach and stir into the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes more, or until wilted then season to taste. Stir in the feta cheese then take off the heat and set aside until needed.

Now prepare the pastry: Dissolve the yeast in a bout 120ml warm water. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. Form a well in the centre then pour in the dissolved yeast. Mix to combine then add more warm water a little at a time, mixing with your hands until everything comes together as a dough (this should be fairly soft and very elastic).

Knead well until the dough is elastic then cover the bowl with a cloth and set aside in a warm place for about 80 minutes, or until doubled in volume. Knock the dough back then turn out onto a lightly-floured work surface. Pinch off pieces of the dough and form into balls a little larger than a golfball.

The method for finishing the pastry varies from place to place and family to family. However, it always starts with rolling the dough out as thinly as possible into flat sheets called 'kora'. Take one kora sheet and sprinkle with a little flour and oil. Place another kora sheet on top then flour and oil this one as well. Fold the sheets in half, flour the koras and your rolling pin then roll out thinly once more. Again fold in half then roll out once again (this gives the pastry the filo layers.

Now dust the kora with flour then cover with the filing mixture. Sprinkle with sunflower oil then roll into a thin roll (you can either roll up like a Swiss [jelly] roll or you can roll the pastry up to enclose the filling in the middle). Coil the roll around the edge of round baking pan (or in the base of a greased casserole dish). Keep adding the rolls, coiling them from the outside of the dish towards the centre, until you have a 15cm diameter round that's empty in the centre.

Now cut one of your remaining koras into a round and fit this in the base of the 'hole'. Fill the hole with any remaining filling then cut another kora to fit and place over the top. Sprinkle with sunflower oil, cover with a cloth and set aside to rise for about 50 minutes.

After this time, remove the cloth and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is piping hot. During cooking, check the zelnik several times and sprinkle the surface with a mix of hot water and sunflower oil.

Serve hot. As well as a main dish, zelnik (or more often the remains of the evening meal) is eaten with yoghurt for breakfast. For a quicker version you can use shop-bought filo pastry.

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