Plasto (without yiayia)

Plasto

So, four months later and I have finally made the plasto my yiayia taught me how to make. Although it's one of my favorite things to eat, I am constantly just running across new things I want to try every week, so it keeps getting pushed back. Plus, I very recently made spanakopitas which are extremely similar.

Plasto is a regional Greek dish that is essentially a greens pie with a cornmeal crust. You can really use any greens you want, though spinach usually tends to make up the bulk of the filling (at least for my grandma's version). Chard, dandelion greens, mustard greens, etc. will all work. It's totally up to you.

This took a little trial and error (I had originally thought I could get away with a cup of cornmeal but ended up adding an additional half cup). And, though the recipe below is more recipe-like than the one I started with, it will still vary a little based on what type of pan you use. I was debating on using an 11x7 baking dish or a 9" springform and ultimately went for the springform since I prefer baking with metal (my 11x7 is glass), it would be easier to get out, and it fits more so I could have a higher filling-to-crust ratio. If you go the route of a regular cake pan (or 9x9 or 11x7) you will need to reduce the filling below. And honestly, I am not 100% sure about the filling amounts, anyway. I didn't *really* measure 7 cups of greens but to me, that's what it looked like. If you're not sure, just build your filling in your baking dish and dump it into a bowl before adding the feta, to make sure you don't have too much or too lilttle. Remember, of course, that they will "shrink" as they cook.

Plasto 2

Plasto

5 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
2 cups swiss chard, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill or about 1 Tbsp. dried
1 leek, sliced (white and green parts only)
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp. softened butter or margarine, divided
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1.5 cups cornmeal
1/3 cup + about 1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together your spinach, chard, dill, leek, feta and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Spread 1 Tbsp. each of the softened butter and olive oil on the bottom of your pan. In a medium bowl, add the cornmeal, a pinch of salt, and 1/3 cup of milk. You may use a little more or less milk but you are going for a crumbly mixture that you can press into a crust. Place half the mixture over the oiled/buttered pan and press down to form a crust.

Place your greens on top of the bottom crust. To the remainder of your cornmeal mixture, add the milk slowly, mixing with a fork,  until you get a consistency that is wet and spreadable, but not too liquidy. You should be able to spoon the mixture over the greens, but it should not pour out of the bowl. Dollop the mixture over the greens and form a top crust by spreading it around. Top the pie with dollops of the remaining tablespoon of butter, and the olive oil. Bake for about 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

The following nutritional information is with using real butter and 2% milk (which I accidentally bought instead of skim. D'oh!). You could make it lighter with skim and using less butter or using margarine, a butter flavor spray, etc. This is for 1/6 of the pie.

Calories: 278 / Fat: 14g / Carbs: 31.4g / Protein: 8.8g