Goat Cheese, Greens, and Za'atar Filo Tart

 The second challenge for January's Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club was the Goat Cheese, Vegetable, and Za'atar Filo Tart from Simply: Easy Everyday Dishes by Sabrina Ghayour. It called for eggplant and red pepper, but that didn't sound good to me, so I took the general idea and ran with it. For her recipe you should check out her cookbook! I like the changes I made overall, but think I might try replacing the garlic granules with fresh garlic, and I think all of this would be nice sprinkled with aleppo pepper, since I have so much of that from previous recipes.

Goat Cheese, Greens, and Za'atar Filo Tart

Olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
1-2 handfuls baby spinach
2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
3 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
6 sheets filo pastry (each about 19x10 inches)
7 eggs, 1 beaten for glaze
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp za'atar
1 tsp garlic granules
4 oz goat cheese (or an herbed goat cheese)
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Line a plate with a double layer of paper towels. Place a large saucepan over high heat and pour in enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the diced zucchini and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the zucchini with a slotted spoon. Shake any excess oil off them, then transfer to the lined plate to drain and cool. 

Meanwhile select an ovenproof dish, about 13x9 inches. Brush melted butter over each pastry sheet and place 2 layers lengthwise in the dish with the ends overhanging the short edges of the dish. Take the remaining 4 sheets and set 2 layers side by side widthwise across the dish so that they meet in the center, with the excess overhanging the long edges of the dish. Crumple the overhanging pastry inside the edges of the dish to create a border for your pie, leaving room for the filling. Brush the crumpled pastry with the beaten egg.*

Sprinkle the filo base with the zucchini, green onion, and spinach. Beat the remaining 6 eggs and fold in the cream, za'atar, and garlic granules. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the filo base, scatter with the goat cheese, and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

*It might work best to lightly scrunch the edge, put the rest of the pie together, and then brush the pastry with the egg. I also added scrunched pastry on top of the egg mixture to use up more of the roll of filo, and just dipped it in egg or butter. It's pretty forgiving as long as you work quickly. If you scrunch the sides down too soon the egg mixture might rise above the filo and leave a mess!