Rachael Ray's Spinach Artichoke Ricotta Pie

Here's another recipe that you (and I) don't want to know the calorie count on.

If you don't like artichokes I would imagine you could use 2 boxes of spinach instead. You could even replace the ricotta with feta.

We didn't really read the directions on this, my mom just tried to make it from memory after watching Rachael make it on TV, so I think we may have made a mistake and mixed in the breadcrumbs in at the wrong time. We ended up with little spots of breadcrumbs within the pie. It was still delicious though so who cares!

Make sure you get the canned or frozen artichokes, not the marinated or pickled ones.

The ricotta we used was not the kind in a tub, it was in a package and we had to crumble it up. I'm pretty sure my mom picked up the wrong kind because in the video, Rachael was scooping hers out of the container.

Rachael Ray's Spinach Artichoke Ricotta Pie

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup soft, unripened ricotta, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
• 1 10-ounce box frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed
• 1 14-ounce can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 4 12x17 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. In a pan over medium high heat, place 1 tablespoon of the butter and fry the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes or until soft. Set aside to cool.
3. In a bowl, combine the egg and breadcrumbs. Stir in all the other ingredients (except phyllo) including the cooked onions and garlic.
4. Melt the remaining butter for a few seconds in the microwave. Take a 9x13 glass baking dish and brush it all over with some of the butter.
5. Layer the sheets of phyllo into the dish with some hanging over all the edges. Brush the bottom and sides of the phyllo with butter then place the filling in the dish. Spread it around evenly.
6. Wrap the phyllo that's hanging over the edges of the dish, over the filling. Rachael wants you to leave it looking rustic. Why not! Add a few extra ripples while you're at it then brush it with even more butter!
7. Bake it for about 25 minutes or until golden on top. Let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it up.

If you want to make it the proper way, you can get the recipe and watch the video on the Rachael Ray Show website. We should have done this before we made it.