Great vegatarian dish!
The other day I made Spanakopitta which literally means spinach pie. It's made with spinach, feta cheese and filo (feelo) pastry. I make it every now and then especially for my children who love to eat it. Yes, you heard right. They can't get enough of it. If you want your little ones to eat their greens then give this dish a try. It doesn't take too long to prepare and is relatively easy to make. It makes a great side dish for any meal. If you've never tried it before, next time you go to Greek town, ask for a slice. I make it in huge quantities so it can last at least 2-3 days in our house.
You'll Need:
2 10oz bags of fresh spinach
4 stalks of spring (green) onions
300g (11oz) feta cheese, crumbled. Buy a block of it and crumble by hand. If you are lactose intolerant then look for feta made from goat's milk.
2 eggs beaten
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
10 filo pastry sheets. Comes in a 454g rectangular box
150ml (2/3 cup) olive oil (very healthy)
Black pepper and salt to taste.
A warning before you start. Don't open the box of filo pastry until you're ready to use it. It comes wrapped in sealed plastic for a reason, it dries very fast when exposed to air. If you are not using it, cover with wet towel to keep it moist and work fast. You'll also need a large working area to lay the filo sheets out.
Preheat the oven to 190c (375F). Open the spinach bags and lay all the spinach out on the table. Go through it by hand and break off any thick stalks and discard.
Boil a big pot with about 1 cup (very little) water. Put the spinach leaves in for only a short time. Cover with a lid.
At this point the spinach will immediately start to wilt after about 1-2mins.
Remove the spinach. You can use a strainer if it helps, just like spaghetti. Spray cold water on the leaves to cool them off otherwise it will be hard to handle for the next step. Put all the spinach in a mixing bowl.
Add the dill and parsley.
Add the feta cheese, yum!
Crumbled.
Add the 2 beaten eggs, the spring onions and throw in as much salt and pepper as you like. Taste the cheese before you add salt. Some varieties of feta are extremely salty so additional salt in not required.
At this point you can put the mixture aside and focus on your dish. Brush the bottom of the dish with a thin coating of olive oil.
You can now unwrap the filo and lay it out flat. Take the topmost sheet and place it inside the dish. Brush the sheet with oil inside the dish. It's ok if the edge hangs over the edge since this will wrap over the top in the end. Top off with 3-4 more sheets at different angles, brushing each with olive oil.
You can now spoon in the mixture. Cover the spinach with 4-5 more sheets, brushing each with oil. Fold in the overhanging filo and brush the whole pie one last time with olive oil. Sprinkle the top with water to prevent the filo edges from curling.
You can now put it in the middle of the oven and cook for about half an hour or until golden and crisp.
Let the dish stand for 30min. to cool before serving. It will also be easier to cut then. Use a sharp knife and slice into small squares or diamond shapes.
Yum!
mmmmmmm - i love spanikopita - but i seem to spell it differently...i'm probably wrong, cause i'm not greek.
but uh, will you send me some? pretty please??
Tekanis! I don't write Greek, so I hope I spelled that right.
This is by far the closest recipe for spanakopita I have seen to my Yia Yia's recipe. The pictures are extreemly helpfull, too.
I was lucky to have a weekend of "cooking and learning" with my Yia Yia because most old country Greek women don't keep written recipes...it's all passed down through the generations.
i really don't like spinach but this is one recipe i'm willings to try. it looks good.
I HAVE BEEN LEARNING TO COOK SEPHARTIC STYLE FOOD...TO MAKE MY WAY INTO MY FATHER IN LAWS HEART THROUGH HIS STOMACH (JEWISH FOOD FROM THE MEDITERANNEAN) AND AS I LOOKED THROUGH YOUR GREEK RECIPES I HAVE COME TO LEARN THAT YOUR FOOD IS THE SAME. THEN AS I READ ABOUT GREEK HISTORY...THE COUNTRY ONCE HAD ONE OF THE LARGEST JEWISH POPULATIONS IN THE WORLD. THEN OF COURSE THEY HAD TO FLEE AND WERE KICKED OUT OF GREECE OR HAD TO CONVERT. SO...HERE TONIGHT IN FLORIDA I LEARNED OF GENETIC FOOD HISTORY....THE SEPHARDIC JEWS AND THEIR DISHES ARE THE SAME AS GREEK FOOD WITH OF COURSE SOME VARIATIONS WHEN THEY WERE FORCED TO LEAVE GREECE AND WENT TO TURKEY!
OH...I FORGOT TO POST THAT I AM COOKING BOTH THE SPINACH AND EGG PLANT DISHES TO BE SERVED AT MY NEW YEARS PARTY!
Thank you for including these great recipes in your web site.
Spanakopitta is a great dish and could be served at any time of the day and season.
My family loves to have it with a bowl of plain low-fat yogurt. Yummm!
Thanks for the high quality pictures too!
Thank you very much!!! I have been looking at different Spanakopitta recipes and you have answered two questions that no one else explained in their recipes! I did not fully understand how I was suppose to fold the filo, you gave a great picture of how to do this! My other question was what is a spring/salad onion? and you've answered that one for me as well. Thanks to you, now I can make the Spanakopitta!!
