Lachanopita is a favourite winter pie in Greece. Cabbage cooked with onion and sometimes with rice too is used as filling for a pie made with home-made filo.
Here the cabbage is mixed with carrots, celery and rice with a few spices, sultanas and pine nuts.
The underlying dish (check out the recipe for cabbage and rice pilaf topped with creamed feta and crispy ham) is in fact vegan and tasty enough to stand on its own but it can be topped with a feta crumb, a pesto or even just some toasted seeds and nuts for texture.
This pie uses 3/4 of the amount of the pilaf so you can enjoy a plateful of pilaf on its own too or topped with toasted seeds.
For the pilaf
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
- 250g cabbage, finely shredded on a mandolin
- 100g grated carrot
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 100g basmati rice
- 100ml dry white wine
- 1 Ltr vegetable stock
- ½ tsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ¼ mustard seeds
- 50g sultanas
- 50g pine nuts
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lemon, juice
Method
Bring a large pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil and spices. Cook for a minute or so to release their aromas and add the onion. Sweat the onion for 3-4 minutes and add the celery. Continue cooking for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes more before adding the rise. Stir for 2-3 more minutes and pour in the wine. When the wine evaporates, add half the stock and give everything a stir. Add the sultanas, lower the heat cover the pan and cook slowly, stirring from time to time and adding stock as needed until the rice and vegetables are cooked.
In a dry frying pan, roast the pine nuts. When the rice is cooked, season with some freshly ground black pepper and salt if it is needed. Stir in half the pine nuts, reserving some to sprinkle the pie when serving.
For the pilaf pie (serves 4)
- 4-5 sheets of filo pastry or 3 sheets of ‘choriatiko filo’ which is thicker
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 3 -4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for brushing
- 200g feta
- 150g Greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- milk or cream to thin the feta cream
- ¾ of the pilaf recipe above
Method
Grease a dish 5cm deep and 30cm diameter with a little olive oil.
Line the dish with a filo sheet. Brush with olive oil and top with the remaining sheets brushing each one with olive oil. With scissors cut the filo sheets all around allowing an overhang of a couple of centimetres. Use the off cuts for the base if you want but oil between them.
Spoon the pilaf mix on top of the filo and flatten with a spoon.
Preheat the oven to 1800C fan.
In a bowl, break up the feta and mix with the yogurt, eggs and a little milk or cream to bring it to a thick custard consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and spoon over the pilaf turning the excess filo inwards. Brush the filo with a little olive oil and sprinkle it with sesame seeds.
Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes until the surface is golden and the filo crispy.
You may serve with a few roasted tomatoes, or use some of the crispy ham of the previous recipe and accompany it with a green leaf salad.