Spinach and Ricotta Triangles

This week started out as vegetarian week, which has unintentionally morphed into comfort food week; partly because it's so cold out, but also because all our favourite dinners and snacks seem to be meat-free. These spinach and ricotta triangles are an ode to school holidays, where Mum and I would wear pjs all day and throw some frozen triangles in the oven for lunch. These are light, crunchy, and full of flavour - and a great way to get any kids to eat spinach.

I admit that before developing this recipe, I wasn't too familiar with using filo pastry (a buttery shortcrust is always my go to). With the help of Mum, I am a self-certified expert and will certainly be bringing more filo recipes to this blog in the future. A few tips to working with filo pastry:

• Be gentle - I'm pretty slapstick in the kitchen, and tore the pastry a few too many times than I'd like to admit.

• Don't be scared of using too much butter - without it, your pastry will not only be dry, but also not stick to itself, which will cause your triangles to fall apart.

• You don't need any egg/milk wash prior to baking - just more butter!

This recipe was a lot of trial and error, so trust me when I say don't be afraid to put a decent amount of the ricotta mixture in the triangles. It won't spill out, because you will have folded the triangles over themselves enough times to seal any gaps.

Ingredients:

• 500g Ricotta

• 200g Baby Spinach Leaves

• 1 Egg

• 6 Sheets Filo Pastry

• 1/2 Cup Melted Butter

• Salt and Pepper, to season

Let's Make These Spinach and Ricotta Triangles:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. In a food processor, add ricotta, spinach, egg, and seasoning. Blitz until smooth. Add mixture to a piping bag and set aside.

3. Using a pastry mat or a sheet of baking paper on your bench, take one sheet of pastry and brush the whole piece with butter. Add a second sheet on top, and cut into quarters length ways, so you have 4 long strips. Cut these strips in half so you have 8 shorter strips.

4. Pipe about a tablespoon of ricotta mixture in the corner of each piece, leaving around a centimetre border so it doesn't spill out.

5. Fold pastry into a triangle, and continue to fold into triangles until you've reached the end. Add some more melted butter to the end of the pastry to help stick. Transfer on to baking tray. Repeat for remaining strips of pastry and continue until 3 batches have been made (i.e. 6 sheets of pastry have been used).

6. Brush triangles with melted butter. Bake in oven for 7 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.