Crispy Feta and Spinach Spirals

Crispy Feta and Spinach Spirals

We’re always on the lookout for creative ways to use the Big Green Egg beyond the usual barbecue fayre, and these Crispy Feta and Spinach Spirals are a brilliant twist on a classic. Inspired by spanakopita but lightened up with rice paper instead of filo, they’re packed with flavour and have that irresistible crunch we all love.

They make a great vegetarian snack, a mezze-style dish or the star of a main meal.

Let’s fire up the Egg and get spiralling.

Makes 2 Spirals, measuring about 15cm in diameter.

Method

Making the Filling

1. Preheat your Egg to 180°C with just the stainless steel grid for a direct cook.
2. Using a frying pan or the Big Green Egg cast iron skillet, put 1 tbsp oil into the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the bag of spinach to the pan and wilt it down for about 5 minutes.  Remove the spinach from the heat and set aside on a plate.  Discard the juice from the wilted spinach.
4. Put the pan back on the grill and heat up 1 tbsp oil.  Add the shallots/onions, garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Fry for about 5 minutes until the shallots/onions are translucent.
5. Add the nutmeg, nigella seeds and chilli flakes, optional.  Fry for a further couple of minutes.
6. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl.
7. Add the wilted spinach, feta cheese and grated cheese to the onion mix.  Give it a good stir and taste.  Add more seasoning, if required.  

Making and cooking the Spirals

1. Put the beaten egg into a shallow platter, place 1 sheet of  rice paper in the egg for about 10 seconds.  Place the rice paper on an oiled chopping board or a flat surface.  We oiled some baking parchment and laid this on top of a wooden chopping board.
2. Place the second sheet of rice paper in the egg and then overlap on top of the first sheet by about one third.  Repeat this process with the third sheet of rice paper.
3. Imagine you’re going to make a sausage roll, which you will eventually curl to look like a cumberland sausage. Spoon half the filling horizontally across the rice paper, place the filling about 5cm away from the closest edge to you.  You may need to squeeze the filling a bit to resemble a sausage.
4. The rice paper sheets are sticky, so gently ease them free from the oiled surface and start rolling the rice paper away from you to create your roll.
5. This does take a bit of patience and we found by gently pulling the parchment paper up and away, this helped created the sausage shape.
6. Once you’ve finished rolling, you then need to create the spiral. Starting at one end, start to curl the roll on itself to create a snail like spiral.
7. Repeat this process again to use the next 3 sheets of rice paper and the remaining filling.
8. Place the pan back on the Egg and heat up 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
9. Once hot, place 2 spirals in the pan and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes until golden and crispy on the underside.  Once golden brown, flip and cook until the second side is golden brown.
10. Whilst frying, you might need to move the spirals around the pan to the cooler surface so they don’t catch.  Give them a zhuzh, if in doubt.
11. To finish, sprinkle some sesame seeds over the cooked spirals.
12. We served the parcels with a good drizzle of balsamic over the top.  Hot honey or regular honey would also work well.
13. Dive in and enjoy.