Saturday, September 7, 2013

Spanikopita

I have been wanting to make this for a while, it is one of my favorite Greek dishes.  I was a bit nervous about working with phyllo dough but it was not bad at all - so don't let that scare you away!

10 oz fresh chopped spinach
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 clove minced garlic
1 egg
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 t salt
8 oz phyllo dough (1/2 package)
3/4 c butter, melted

In large skillet or wok sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. When the onions are cooked, and translucent, add the fresh chopped spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. 

Remove from heat and transfer to colander to drain excess moisture. I used a spatula to press down on the spinach to get out as much water as possible. 

Combine cheeses, salt and egg, mix thoroughly, then add spinach mixture in. 


Arrange one sheet of phyllo dough on the clean work surface, cover the remaining phyllo dough with a damp towel. I used a plastic cutting mat, but a Silpat out would work great also, brush with melted butter. The 1st layer is more susceptible to tearing than the subsequent layers.  Be super careful with the first one and the others get easier.  No big deal if it tears a bit, just seal it with a bit of butter.  Place a second sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter - repeat until you have four sheets. Cut into four strips lengthwise, I used a pizza cutter. 



Place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture on the bottom of each strip. Take the bottom right corner and fold the dough over the filling to make a triangle. Fold the bottom left corner up to make another triangle. Continue folding until all the dough is folded.  At this point I usually put a little butter on the seem to "glue" it down. Lightly brush the rest of the triangle with butter. 



I also decided to make a couple "burrito type" pockets because that's how they served them at one of my favorite Greek cafés in Portland. For those I used 6 sheets of phyllo, and about 3T of filling, cut the sheets in half and folded as shown below. 


If you will be cooking them immediately, put them on a baking sheet that is lightly greased and cook for 20 minutes at 375°. If you are freezing them for later, like I did, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place in the freezer for 30-45 min then transfer to a ziplock bag for freshness. No need to thaw them out when you are ready to use them, just put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 375°


And here they are, my triangles didn't all turn out perfect but it was my first try.  Also, I think the ones that didn't turn out great were due to me adding too much filling.  

The finished product!



This recipe was adapted from THIS spanikopita recipe.






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