Mama Lotties Torta De Acelga (Spinach Pie)

Mama’s Spinach / Chard Pie (torta de acelga) is always so delicious. There can’t be an easter time without it. That’s not to say that it has to be limited to Easter only. So if you want a truly traditional recipe. Give this a go. I found that frying the spinach with the garlic and oil locks in the flavour and gives this torta de acelga an amazing oomph.

The sizes below can vary depending on the size of your oven dish. If you have any mixture left you can fry them into spinach tortitas.

You can also check out the vegan version of this torta de acelga or why not get the vegan cookbook

Serves: 6 -9 | Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Filling

• 600g – 900g fresh spinach
• 3 garlic cloves
• 150g – 200g hard edam cheese
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 6 – 8 eggs

Pie

• 500g – 700g puff pastry
• 1 Egg / 100 milk (for brushing over)

Method

Kick off this recipe by cooking and seasoning the spinach filling. One of the most important things we do for this recipe is remove the water from the spinach leaves. 

Dice down and chop the garlic into little pieces and add them to a large pot with olive oil. Once the oil heats up and the garlic begins to cook, rip the spinach leaves apart with your hands and add them to the pot with a generous pinch of salt. 

Stir the spinach constantly until it all reduces in size; you’ll find that it releases plenty of water. Fry this for several minutes until all the water evaporates. You can squeeze the spinach with a spoon to check.

When the spinach is cooked, remove it from the heat and mix it together with the grated cheese, then beat 6 -7 eggs and pour it into the spinach mix. Give it a good mix to make sure everything combines well.  

Next, lay out the puff pastry for the outside of the torta de acelga. Cover a medium-sized oven dish with greaseproof paper and place a layer of puff pastry in the bottom of the dish (also covering the sides), fill with the spinach mix, make a little dip in the mix and crack an egg inside and cover the dish with a puff pastry “lid”. Brush the top pastry with some milk or a beaten egg and transfer the oven to bake at 180ºC for around 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is golden and puffed. 

Once ready, remove from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before cutting. 

Watch us

This was a slightly different way of making it by boiling the spinach

Mama Lotties Torta De Acelga (Spinach Pie)

5 from 2 votes

Mama’s Spinach / Chard Pie (torta de acelga) is always so delicious. There can’t be an easter time without it. That’s not to say that it has to be limited to Easter only. So if you want a truly traditional recipe. Give this a go. I found that frying the spinach with the garlic and oil locks in the flavour and gives this torta de acelga an amazing oomph.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Gibraltar, Mediterranean

Servings: 7

Author: Mama Lotties

Ingredients

Filling

• 600 g fresh spinach
• 3 garlic cloves
• 150 to 200 g hard edam cheese
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 6 to 8 eggs

Pie

• 500 g puff pastry
• 1 Egg

Instructions

• Kick off this recipe by cooking and seasoning the spinach filling. One of the most important things we do for this recipe is remove the water from the spinach leaves. 
• Dice down and chop the garlic into little pieces and add them to a large pot with olive oil. Once the oil heats up and the garlic begins to cook, rip the spinach leaves apart with your hands and add them to the pot with a generous pinch of salt. 
• Stir the spinach constantly until it all reduces in size; you’ll find that it releases plenty of water. Fry this for several minutes until all the water evaporates. You can squeeze the spinach with a spoon to check.
• When the spinach is cooked, remove it from the heat and mix it together with the grated cheese, then beat 6 -7 eggs and pour it into the spinach mix. Give it a good mix to make sure everything combines well.  
• Next, lay out the puff pastry for the outside of the torta de acelga. Cover a medium-sized oven dish with greaseproof paper and place a layer of puff pastry in the bottom of the dish (also covering the sides), fill with the spinach mix, make a little dip in the mix and crack an egg inside and cover the dish with a puff pastry “lid”. Brush the top pastry with some milk or a beaten egg and transfer the oven to bake at 180ºC for around 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is golden and puffed. 
• Once ready, remove from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before cutting.