Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem continues to charm me, though with its beautiful photographs and delicious recipes set among small scenes and sketches of everyday life in the holy city, I imagine many fall under its spell. This Herb Pie came at the end of an enthusiastic weekend of Jerusalem cooking that included stuffed eggplant with lamb, Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad and Chicken Sofrito.

Even if some of the recipes I’ve tried are fairly time consuming, this one included, the upside seems to be that they are in equal parts difficult to screw up so your time will be well spent.  I say this as quantities for most of the ingredients below were given in both ounces and grams, units of measurement without any meaning to me. I’ve inserted my best guesses here, and though Yotam and Sami might notice something amiss, Dorian and I sure didn’t.

Herb Pie
For an 8-inch square baking dish, or something of similar size

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing the pastry
1 large onion, diced
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and leaves finely shredded but keep separate
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
4 green onions, green and white parts sliced
A large, very large handful of arugula
Half a bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
One package of mint, chopped
One-third of a bunch of dill, chopped
4 ounces ricotta
3 1/2 ounces aged Cheddar cheese, grated
3 ounces French feta
zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 eggs
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 sheets of filo pastry

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pour olive oil in a large deep frying pan or saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 8 minutes without browning the onions. Add the chard stems and celery and continue cooking for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chard leaves, increase heat to medium-high, and stir as you cook for another 4 minutes, until the leaves wilt. Add the green onion, arugula and herbs and cook for two more minutes. Removed from the heat and transfer to a colander to cool.

Once the mixture is cool, squeeze out as much water as possible and transfer greens to a mixing bowl. Add the three cheeses, lemon zest, eggs, salt and pepper and mix well.

Lay out a sheet of filo and brush with olive oil. Cover with another sheet, brush that one with olive oil, and continue in this manner until you have 5 layers of filo. Line the baking dish with pastry, letting excess hang over the rim. Fill it with the herb mix and fold excess filo over the filling.

Make another set of 5 filo layers brushed with olive oil and place them over the pie. Scrunch up the pastry a little to create a wavy, uneven top and trim the edges so it just covers the pie; tuck edges down into the sides. Brush generously with olive oil and bake for 25-35 minutes until the filo turns a nice golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature.