Rustic Phyllo Vegetable Pie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• 1 cup (8 ounces) 1% cottage cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Pure Olive Oil
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) fresh spinach, torn
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 12 sheets phyllo dough (14 inches x 9 inches)
• Butter-flavored cooking spray
• 1-1/2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the egg, rice, cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella, lemon juice and peel; set aside. In a Dutch oven, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add spinach, raisins, cinnamon and salt. Cook and stir until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in remaining mozzarella.
• Spritz one sheet of phyllo dough with butter-flavored spray. Place in a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate coated with cooking spray, allowing short sides of dough to hang over edges. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.)
• Place remaining phyllo sheets in pie plate in a crisscross fashion resembling the spokes of a wheel, spritzing between layers with butter-flavored spray. Spread half of rice mixture into crust; layer with half of spinach mixture and half of spaghetti sauce. Repeat layers.
• Gently fold edges of dough over filling, leaving center of pie uncovered. Spritz with butter-flavored spray. Cover loosely with foil; bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until filling reaches 160°. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

Rustic Phyllo Vegetable Pie published in Light & Tasty February/March 2007, p56