SPANAKOPITA

SPANAKOPITA

#SIAintheKitchen

I love Greek food. My family and I used to go out for it all the time when we were kids. We used to always get a platter that had all the typical dishes - souvlaki, rice pilaf, dolmades, keftedes, Greek salad and spanakopita.

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach and feta pie wrapped in phyllo pastry. To my surprise, there are a lot more green ingredients nestled in the pie than just pure spinach and feta! I knew by 1) eating a lot of spanakopita in my day and 2) my sister dating a Greek guy for years that dill and green onions were present in the recipe. And upon research and basically pestering all of my Greek friends, a lot more ingredients in that! And to my surprise, was fairly simple to make!

All you have to do is prepare the phyllo dough (which you literally just unbox from the freezer) and make the filling. Throw it in, fold it up and bake and try to just let it sit and rest before digging in. I already cannot wait to make this again.

SPANAKOPITA - makes 1 8x8” pie

• 1 bunch spinach, rinsed and dried thoroughly

• 1 bunch dill, chopped into 1” segments

• 1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped into 1” segments

• 1 bunch scallions, ends trimmed and both white and green parts thinly sliced

• 2 tsps dried oregano

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 (200g) container feta cheese, drained and crumbled

• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 lb phyllo dough, thawed

• extra-virgin olive oil, as needed (atleast 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Apply kosher salt to the spinach to bring the water out. Let sit for 15 minutes and wring out all moisture until very dry. Roughly chop by hand or in a food processor and set aside in a large mixing bowl.

3. In your food processor, chop up the parsley and dill and transfer to the bowl with the spinach. Add in the green onions, oregano, salt, pepper, egg, cheese and olive oil. Mix thoroughly with a spatula or your hands.

4. Working quickly, brush an 8x8” baking dish with olive oil. Place 1 layer of phyllo dough into the baking dish and that the excess dough hands from the sides. Brush liberally with olive oil and keep layering with phyllo and olive oil until you’re about 3/4 of the way through the phyllo package. There will be 1 or 2 sheets left - feel free to use elsewhere. Alternatively, you can just use the entire container here - you’ll just have more layers.

5. Once you’re finished with the phyllo, pour the filling into the baking dish and flatten to level it out. Fold the overhanging phyllo to cover and “close” the pie. Brush generously with olive oil and bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the phyllo is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for another 30 minutes.