Old rag pie

Prep time 30 mins to 1 hour

Cook time 30 mins to 1 hour

Makes 9 generous slabs

Dietary Vegetarian

From Simply Nigella

Old Rag Pie is not the most glamorous name for something which, while being incredibly simple to make, will have you, and anyone who eats it, in raptures. The name is the English translation for the Greek Patsavouropita, created by bakeries as a way of using up old scraps of filo pastry: the "old rags" indicated by the title. In Greece, there are two variants, one sweet, one savoury, but this version merges the two, adding honey to salty feta, to create what I can best describe (in taste terms) as a Greek cheesecake.

Method

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then take it off the heat.
Line a 20cm/8in square cake tin with a layer of filo, making sure it comes up the sides; you will need to use more than one sheet. Then pour 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the pastry.
Using one third of the remaining filo sheets, tear and scrunch the sheets up and drop them loosely in the tin. Then crumble in half the feta, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of Parmesan and just under Â½ teaspoon of thyme leaves (or Â¼ teaspoon of dried thyme) and pour a third of the remaining melted butter over the top.
Repeat, so that you use up all but a little of the butter and a small amount of thyme. For the last layer, you can use larger pieces of filo â€œragsâ€ (as itâ€™s the lid), filling the tin a little more tightly, but still scrunching them.
Fold the edges of overhanging filo over themselves, and pour the remaining butter on top. Using the sharp point of a knife, make 2 cuts down and 2 cuts across into the filo-packed tin, from edge to edge to create 9 sections. Itâ€™s important that you donâ€™t use a blunt knife, as you donâ€™t want to drag the filo or press down on it.
Beat the eggs with the milk, then pour over the contents of the tin. Sprinkle the last bit of thyme along with the sesame seeds on top. Let it stand for at least 30 minutes in a cool place before baking. If 2 hours is easier for your timetable, then put it in the fridge. And you can do this in advance (see top recipe tips).
Heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6, and bake the pie for 30 minutes. When itâ€™s ready, the pastry will be golden-brown and puffed up, and the inside set. Let it stand for 10 minutes, then spoon 1 tablespoon of the honey over the top.
Cut into slices or slabs â€“ using a serrated bread knife and sawing action to prevent squishing the filo on top too much, then pushing the knife down to cut through. Serve the pie directly from the tin and put the jar of honey, with a spoon in it (or you can pour it into a jug) on the table for people to add extra as they eat.

Ingredients

100g/3Â½oz soft unsalted butter
1 x 270g/9Â½oz packet frozen filo pastry, thawed
200-250g/7-9oz feta cheese
2 tsp grated Parmesan (or alternative vegetarian hard cheese)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
2 large free-range eggs
150ml/5fl oz full-fat milk
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 jar good-quality clear honey (such as Greek thyme honey or orange blossom honey)

Shopping List

Old rag pie

Fruit and vegetables

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried

Cooking ingredients

1 jar good-quality clear honey (such as Greek thyme honey or orange blossom honey)

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Dairy, eggs and chilled

100g/3Â½oz soft unsalted butter

2 large free-range eggs

200-250g/7-9oz feta cheese

1 x 270g/9Â½oz packet frozen filo pastry, thawed

150ml/5fl oz full-fat milk

2 tsp grated Parmesan (or alternative vegetarian hard cheese)

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