On the Menu: Spanakopita

Preparing the spanakopita.

Spanakopita is probably my all-time favorite Greek dish. The flavors are wonderful and it is fairly easy to prepare. If you are short on time, you can even make these in advance and freeze them until you are ready to bake them.

The boys love "painting" the butter on with the marinade brush.

They also love eating the filling. (But I'm also guilty of that!)

Spanakopita
From: Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
Makes 1 large pie or about 20 pockets

1/3-1/2 cup olive oil (for the filo) - I use butter
1 lb. filo (or phyllo) pastry*

Filling:
1 tbs. olive oil
2 cups minced onion
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
2 1/2 lbs. fresh spinach, stemmed and finely chopped**
5 medium cloves garlic, minced
3 tbs. flour
2-3 cups (packed) crumbled feta cheese
1 cup cottage or pot cheese
black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9x13" baking pan.
2. Heat 1 tbs. olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add onion, salt, and herbs and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onion softens. Add spinach, turn up the heat, and cook, stirring, until the spinach wilts (5 to 8 minutes). Stir in the garlic.
3. Sprinkle in the flour, stir, and cook over medium heat 2 to 3 more minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Mix in the cheeses. Taste to correct seasonings, adding lots of black pepper.
5. Place a sheet of fill dough in the oiled pan, letting the pastry edges climb up the sides. Brush lightly with the oil and add another sheet. Keep going until you have a pile of 8 sheets. Add half the filling, spreading it to the edges, then repeat with 8 more sheets of oiled fill, followed by the remaining filling. Layer the rest of the fill over the filling, brushing oil in between. Oil the top, tuck in the edges, and bake uncovered for about 45 minutes or until golden and crispy. Cut into squares and serve hot or warm.

Looks amazing!

Filo dough is fairly easy to work with. Keep it covered with a moist cloth while you're working with it because it will dry out and become too brittle to handle if you don't. Piecing filo dough is not for a noob chef.

In Fairbanks, Alaska (of all places) there was a fabulous Greek restaurant: Bobby's. They had delicious spanakopita, but there was an extra seasoning in it. I'm not sure what it was, but I suspect it was juniper or nettles, both spices in traditional Greek cooking. Their availability may be limited in the States. Thank goodness for the Internet!

* I usually cut the fill dough in half and make little spanakopita pockets. (You can see these in the picture.) To do this, cut the fill dough in half. You'll want two piles of long filo strips. Layer three pieces of filo, buttering in between each sheet. Put approximately 2-3 tbs. of filling in the left corner closest to you. Fold into a triangle shape over and over again until you finish at the upper left corner. Butter the top and carefully transfer the pocket to a cookie sheet or baking pan.  

** My local grocery store does not carry fresh spinach. Yeah, weird, right? I use 2 1-lb. bags of spinach as a substitute. Just thaw, gently squeeze out the excess water, and mix with the rest of the ingredients at step 2.