Spanakopita

I love Greek food! A couple of years ago I went on a mission to learn to make some good Greek dishes for at home. I've found some good recipes and lately have been sharing them with friends. Now more and more people are asking for them so I've decided to post them up here so you can just print it have it...it also saves me from typing out the recipes again and again. I'll be separating each recipe into it's own post so there isn't one long one and you don't need to print what you don't want.

Spanakopita - I've never had to double this one...I find the recipe makes quite a bit. It's very time consuming and a lot of work, but oh so worth it. Most people I've served this too have said it's better than the restaurants. I should also mention...I almost never measure, I eyeball most things.

1/2 cup olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 (10oz) pkgs frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained and squeezed dry (tip: put the thawed spinach in the middle of a clean dark coloured tea towel and pull the edges up around the spinach and twist it so all the liquids squeeze out...makes it way easier)
2 tbsps chopped fresh dill (I just use dried)
3 tbsps all purpose flour
2 (4 oz) pkgs feta, crumbled
4 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper
1 1/2 (16oz) pkgs phyllo dough
3/4 pd butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook and stir onions until softened. Mix in spinach, dill and flour. Cook approximately 10 minutes or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in feta, eggs, salt and pepper.

Here is where it gets tricky and takes some practice. Lay phyllo dough flat & brush with butter. (If you like lots of phyllo dough, I know some people will stack 3 sheets at a time, just don't forget to brush in between the layers....I only use one sheet at a time). Don't forget to keep your stock pile of phyllo covered with a damp tea towel...it dries out very fast. Depending on the size of sheet you have you might need to do this (I have to everytime, I have yet to find thing strips of phyllo precut and ready to go). I put it down infront of me so it's landscape not portrait (I only know photography terms for this...I don't know how to describe it in cooking terms...haha) and I take a pizza roller cutter thing and cut 4 or 5 strips, depending on the size of your dough and the size you want your spanakopita to be. Some packages will actually have a diagram for you on how to set it up, so look on your packaging. Place a small amount of spinach mixture onto each piece of dough. Fold phyllo into triangles around the mixture. (Again...refer to packaging for directions on how to do this...way to hard to explain how...but don't stress about it, my first few turned into little packet square things...they looked horrible). Brush triangles with butter and place on a large baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven 45min - 1 hour or until golden brown (please don't just put the timer on and walk away...check at like 20 minutes or half hour).
And that's it! If you have any questions or if I was unclear, please ask. Also, please let me know if you have tried this and how it turned out!

Good Luck!!


You can go here to print it.