Mediterranean Spinach and Artichoke Ring

Mediterranean Spinach and Artichoke Ring

A golden, wreath-shaped showpiece of wholemeal dough wrapped around a savoury Mediterranean filling of spinach, artichoke and a rich butter-bean cream — fragrant with dill, oregano and lemon. Each pull-apart wedge delivers flaky crust, a generous herb-flecked centre and the briny depth of olives and roasted pepper. Bring it to the table whole, serve it with a crisp white or a chilled rosé, and watch it disappear.

Ingredients
[ ] 400 g wholemeal bread dough (shop-bought or homemade), at room temperature
[ ] 300 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed very dry
[ ] 1 x 400 g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
[ ] 2 tbsp tahini
[ ] 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
[ ] 2 tbsp lemon juice
[ ] 280 g artichoke hearts in brine, drained and roughly chopped
[ ] 100 g roasted red peppers from a jar, drained and finely diced
[ ] 40 g Kalamata olives, finely chopped
[ ] 2 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
[ ] 2 garlic cloves, crushed
[ ] 2 tsp fresh dill, chopped
[ ] 1 tsp dried oregano
[ ] ¼ tsp black pepper
[ ] 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
[ ] 2 tbsp unsweetened soya milk, to glaze
[ ] 1 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions
[ ] 1. Place the drained and rinsed butter beans, tahini, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, crushed garlic, and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blitz to a thick, completely smooth paste — this is your binder and it must be smooth before anything else goes in. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Transfer the paste to a large bowl. Add the squeezed spinach, chopped artichoke hearts, diced roasted peppers, olives, pine nuts, dill, oregano, and black pepper. Fold everything together firmly until evenly combined. The mixture should be thick and hold its shape
[ ] 2. if it feels at all wet, squeeze the spinach again — excess moisture is the enemy of a clean ring.
Line a large flat baking tray (or a pizza stone if using the barbecue) with baking parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll the wholemeal dough out to a rectangle roughly 40 cm × 30 cm and about 4 mm thick.
Using a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 16 long, thin triangles of equal size — the easiest method is to cut the rectangle into two long strips, then cut each strip into 8 triangles by making diagonal cuts alternating in direction.
Arrange the triangles on the prepared tray in a starburst circle, with the short base edges overlapping and pointing toward the centre and the long points radiating outward like a star. The overlapping bases should form a ring roughly 20–22 cm in diameter.
Spoon the filling evenly along the ring of overlapping bases, mounding it neatly and leaving the long pointed tips completely free. Do not overfill — a generous but compact mound is what you are after.
Working around the ring, fold each long pointed tip up and over the filling, stretching it gently, then tuck the tip underneath the ring to seal. The finished shape should look like a wreath or crown with the filling fully enclosed.
Brush the entire surface of the ring with the soya milk glaze, then scatter the sesame seeds evenly over the top.
OVEN METHOD — Preheat the oven to 200 °C fan (220 °C conventional / gas 7). Bake the ring on the middle shelf for 22–25 minutes, until deep golden brown all over and firm when you tap the underside. If the top colours quickly before the base is done, tent loosely with foil for the final 5 minutes.
BARBECUE METHOD (indirect heat) — Set up a kettle barbecue for indirect cooking: bank the lit coals to both sides, leaving nothing directly beneath the centre. Open the vents fully, put the lid on, and allow the temperature to stabilise at 200 °C at the dome thermometer — adjust the vents to hold this. Sit the tray or pizza stone over the cool zone directly above no coals. Cook with the lid down for 25–30 minutes, rotating the tray 180° halfway through to account for uneven heat. The ring is ready when it is deep golden and firm underneath.
Remove from the oven or barbecue and allow the ring to rest on the tray for a full 10 minutes before cutting or pulling apart. This resting time lets the filling firm up so the wedges hold together cleanly. Serve warm at the table as a sharing centrepiece.

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