One pot spanakopita pasta

This one pot spanakopita pasta is a twist on the classic Greek pastry, using orzo in place of filo for an easy weeknight dinner! This recipe is a fantastic way to use up leftover greens and herbs that might be lurking in the back of your fridge, and tastes just like an authentic spanakopita, but with a fraction of the effort (and time).

Like any good Cypriot, I am kind of obsessed with spanakopita. In the unlikely event that you’re not familiar with this Greek classic, it’s a spinach pie, spiked with feta and herbs and packaged up nicely in either a village dough or filo.

And while I (quite passionately) believe that pastries on a whole are hugely overlooked within the international appreciation of Greek/Cypriot cuisine, spanakopita is the outlier. Everybody seems to love it – and have a take on it – and while similar, no two recipes are ever really the same.

This one-pot pasta is my answer to the question: what if spanakopita and pasta combined? It comes together in 20 minutes, has little prep involved (just a bit of chopping here and there – we’ve got this!), and you have yourself a nutritious, crowd-pleaser of a dinner on the table that will make you say “ok what kind of wizardry is this because it actually tastes just like spanakopita”.

Substitutions for this one pot spanakopita pasta

What’s great about this is that you can substitute the greens with whatever you might have access to. I usually make my spanakopita with spinach, but chose silverbeet for this edition because it’s currently in season here in Queensland, but you can substitute for spinach easily (just make sure to check my note on substitution quantity below!).

I hope you love this recipe as much as my family do! Even my toddler inhaled this one (I know, I’m surprised too!). If you liked this pasta, I’ll link a few other easy pasta dishes that deliver big on flavour for you to try below.

• The Best Roman-style Carbonara (no cream!)
• Spinach and sausage pasta
• Classic pomodoro
• The most perfect zucchini pasta

One pot spanakopita pasta

A gloriously easy one-pot pasta that tastes just like spanakopita! Perfect for mid-week dinners, or whenever you're craving the flavours of this classic Greek pastry.

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Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean

Keyword: comfort cooking, easy recipe, quick, silverbeet, vegetarian, winter

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3-4 spring onions – bulb and greens chopped
• 120 g silverbeet leaves – wash the silverbeet first remove the stems and roughly chop the leaves
• 300 g orzo or risoni
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 25 g parsley roughly chopped
• 40 g dill roughly chopped
• 10 g mint roughly chopped
• 100 g feta
• Lemon wedges to serve (optional)

Instructions

• Heat olive oil over a medium heat in a large pan or skillet. Add the spring onions and gently sauté for two minutes until they start to soften slightly, but remain vibrant.
• Add the chopped silverbeet leaves and continue to sauté – adding a good pinch of salt – for 2-3 minutes until the greens start to wilt, then add the dried pasta and stir to coat it in all of the greens and olive oil in the pan.
You can save the silverbeet stems for another use. They're fantastic cut into batons and used in a pan-friend vegetable medley, or stir fries.
• Toast the pasta for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken stock and another pinch of salt, and a touch of pepper, and cook for approx 6 minutes or according to packet instructions.
Allow the pasta to cook for a minute less than what it says on the packet, to prevent it from overcooking and becoming mushy!
• Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped herbs. Cover the pan and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes.
• Finally, crumble the feta all over the pasta and serve family style, with wedges of lemon on the side.

Notes

If you use spinach instead of silverbeet, increase the quantity from 120g to 250g. Spinach tends to release more water than silverbeet, so you’ll end up with less volume.