Maria Smith and I have a difference of opinion. She thinks her personality most resembles one of her fantastic meatballs because not one meatball is the same and everybody loves them. I have no doubt that everybody loves Maria, but I think it’s because she is really a human version of her spinach pies. Like her pies, she is warm and full of goodness. Also, after spending time with her, you feel like you just did something healthy.
An administrative assistant for the Sr VP of Student Life at Drexel University, Maria has 3 kids– 2 girls and a boy as well as 4 grandkids (all boys). Her grandsons, Billy (age 10) and Nick (age 9), joined us as we made spinach pies. Nick likes the combination of ingredients because “when it is mushed together, it gets a good flavor.”
It’s traditional for Italian families to make Spinach Pies on Good Friday. Growing up in South Philly, first her grandmother Virginia, and then later her mother Rosie made this recipe, giving away between 200-250 pies to their family and friends. They used spinach because on Good Friday you can’t have meat, and it’s easier to make than broccoli pies. Specifically, Maria’s mother used frozen spinach because cleaning the fresh spinach proved to be too time consuming.
Maria learned to cook by watching her mother. Rosie, was always laughing and joking. She used to say, “you can’t just sit and cry over a problem. You have to know how to work out of it. No sense in getting depressed about anything.” Rosie died of leukemia when 
Maria was 37 years old. The first year after Rosie died no one tried her recipes. The second year, Maria made her spinach pie plus other recipes and she’s been doing it for the past 26 years. Eventually, Maria’s daughter Rene will take over the tradition.
As she showed me how to fold the dough over the spinach mixture, Maria talked about her children. Her son Bobby is a police officer, Rene is an accountant/bookkeeper and Rita is an administrative assistant at Drexel. “I would always talk to my kids about everything” Maria said. “I told them I can’t help you moneywise, but you have my love and the door is always open to use and your friends. We always had the neighborhood kids over. Even now, I’m right behind my kids, no matter what. It’s the gift my mother gave to me and it’s what I gave to my kids.”
Surviving uterine cancer a few years ago was difficult, but Maria’s positive attitude helped her get through it. Her life advice is to “live, love, laugh and be happy. Take one day at a time. No matter what the problem is, don’t let it get you down.” In addition to being super-positive, Maria is a really big-hearted person. She calls people “love” and “honey” and is able to do so without sounding ironic. When I called to tell her I was lost and late to her house, she comforted me over the phone.
She’s everyone’s neighborhood psychiatrist and I can see why. People can talk to her about anything and she’ll give anyone advice. Need a friendly ear? Call Maria. Need advice on your career or relationship? Call Maria. Need a pot of gravy for your dinner this weekend? Call Maria. Seriously–Maria loves cooking and will happily make a pot of her gravy for friends and family.
We sat down to enjoy a few spinach pies. Firm, golden-brown half-moon shaped crusts encased a savory combination of spinach, olives and in some pies, anchovies. The pastry was warm, thick and reminded me of calzones. Popeye would rave about the spinach mixture. Evoking thoughts of summer harvests, the generous portion of spinach was dotted with slightly bitter olives and tasted lightly salty from the anchovies. I’m from a family who adds extra anchovies to their salads so the pies were right up my alley.
Like many people I interview, Maria is the type of person who cooks for the fun of it. No leftovers for her. Instead, she will cook everything from scratch and most of the time measures by hand. At one point I asked to use her measuring cup to get a more accurate reading on ingredient quantities. Laughing, she showed me where she keeps it: under the sink and used to store Tupperware lids. Clearly, the measuring cup isn’t getting a lot of use. Maria doesn’t do fancy food and prefers down-to-earth home cooked meals. “None of that jar gravy or ragu stuff” she said. What it all comes down to is that Maria is an incredibly big-hearted person who makes an excellent spinach pie. She’s the person to call when you need a good meal or some old-fashioned advice. I would give you her phone number but then you would abuse it and call her at all hours until she fixes your life and then agrees to make you her famous gravy. Sorry, I’m selfishly keeping her number private. Go make your own gravy.
Lessons Learned:
–We talked a lot about how Italians celebrate holidays. I discovered that a “lamb cake” is butter molded in the shape of a lamb and served at Easter. Huh. Not at all what first came to mind when I heard the term “lamb cake.”
–I learned some Italian phrases while at Maria’s house. Abbundaza = a lot; Alege = anchovies; Stat a zite = shut up (her grandsons taught me that one).
–Gravy = tomato sauce.
–This might be TMI, but after eating a few spinach pies, my bowels were regular for the first time in months. The book ‘Skinny Bitch’ advocates for eating a pound of spinach a day. Now I know why and it’s a great side benefit. Those of my readers who want to be healthier, make Maria’s spinach pie recipe once a week. Eat and enjoy.
Spinach Pie Recipe:
Ingredients for filling:
10 boxes frozen spinach
2 cans of black olives (Maria said there is only one size can and she uses the small pitted olives)
2 small jars of small pimento olives strained & left whole
4 little boxes of white raisins
1 tsp salt
4-5 Tbs garlic powder
2 tins Cento anchovies—rolled fillets
1 tsp salt
5 lb pizza dough (will make 25 pies)
Ingredients/Directions for egg wash:
In a large bowl combine:
1 dozen eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 tsp parsley flakes
Directions for assembling pies:
-Preheat oven to 350
-Cook spinach the night before and let it strain all night until it is mostly dry. You don’t want wet spinach in your mixture.
-Mix the spinach, black olives, pimento olives, white raisins, salt and garlic powder in a bowl. Maria said to use your hands for this step.
-In case your guests don’t like anchovies, separate the mixture into two different bowls and add the anchovies into the second bowl. Now you have 2 options – spinach pie with or without anchovies.
-Grab 2 handfuls of dough and combine them then rollout it out into an oblong shape.
-Put handful of mix in the middle of the dough.
-Using your left hand to push the ingredients in to the middle, pick up the far edge of the dough in your right hand and fold it over the ingredients until it meets the other end forming a half moon shape.
-Use a fork to press down and shut the edges.
-Cover both sides of pastry with egg wash.
-Coat baking sheet with non-stick spray.
-Place pies on pan and bake for 20 minutes.
-Flip pies onto other side and bake for another 20 minutes.
-Pies will be golden brown when finished.
