Probably the most famous and the most liked of the vast array of Pitas in the Greek Kitchen, almost a staple dish in Greece. Some like it as an appetizer, others as a main course and others as a morning snack with their coffee. What most agree on is the ‘homey’ taste of it derived from the the basic ingredients of Spinach and Feta.
As Spinach may be a bit blunt in taste the use of herbs and fresh onions provides an additional layer of flavour. Herbs like dill, parsley as well as wild greens in season like ‘Seskoula’ and ‘Tsouknithes’ that are mostly available in the winter months.
Personally I have a ‘big issue’ with dill, thus is avoided and replaced with parsley and some dry mint.
While baked either as a round pie or a square one, I chose to make this one as a square one and served it with a fresh salad of seasonal greens dressed with a Cilantro/Lime dressing
SPANAKOPITA
Have a look below at the full recipe. Don’t forget, you can always print it.
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I hope you enjoy it!
SPANAKOPITA
Ingredients
- 6 sheets Country Style Pastry , Chrysi Zymi
- 750 gr Fresh Spinach , stems cut
- 200 gr Feta , crumbled, Charalambides Christis
- 5 Scallions , white and green parts included, chopped
- 1 Cup fresh Parsley , leaves picked and chopped
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tablespoon dry Mint , ground
- 200 ml EVOO , Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Start by cutting the spinach leaves to big chunks. Wash thoroughly and allow to dry.
- Take a large pot and place it on medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, allow to heat and then add the spinach. Toss well and let wilt for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and place it in a colander. Press thoroughly so that the spinach liquid is removed. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
- In the same pot on medium heat add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil, allow to heat and then add the scallions. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 185° C, air circulation, rack in the middle.
- Back to the mixture, get the pot with the scallions and add into them the spinach, 100 ml of the olive oil, the parsley, eggs, the crumbled feta, dry mint, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Take a deep oven proof dish of about 35 cm length and lightly oil it.
- On a separate bench we place the 6 sheets of the pastry and we brush the first one with oil. We place the first sheet on the oiled oven dish allowing its ends to hang outside. We brush with oil the second sheet and place it on top of the first sheet. Repeat the same procedure for 2 more sheets.
- Add the spinach/feta mixture on top of the fourth sheets and spread evenly. Fold inwards the third and fourth pastry sheets and brush with oil.
- We take the fifth and sixth sheet that we brushed with oil, fold them in half and add them on top of the spread spinach/feta mixture. Bring back to the center the loose pastry sheets, first and second, from the outside of the dish, brush more oil on them and roll them towards the outside of the dish making sure that they seal the pie.
- Give the spanakopita a final brush of oil and carefully pre-cut the top layers of the pastry into squares and place in the oven, to be cooked for about 45 minutes and until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
