This is probably one of my favourite recipes of all time. Like all Greeks, I grew up eating Spanakopita. It is a delicious mix of spinach and feta cheese wrapped in crisp filo pastry.
You can buy Spanakopita everywhere in Greece, all bakery's sell it and you will often see Greek people grabbing one to go for breakfast or as a snack. However, nothing beats a homemade dish and my mother's recipe is the best!
Spanakopita literally means spinach (spanaki) pie (pita) and in Greece you can get lots of different types of pitas…Spanakopita (spinach pie), Tiropita (feta cheese pie), Kotopita (chicken pie), Kolokithopita (courgette pie)...notice how they all end in pita, pie! And they are all so tasty!
Spanakopita has been around for generations and everyone has their own little twist to the recipe. To be truly authentic you should really make your own filo pastry and whilst this can be highly therapeutic, it is just so much easier to buy it from the supermarket and it tastes just as good if I am being honest!
You can make spanakopitakia (confusing huh!?), which basically means small spanakopita which are usually in triangular or half moon shapes…
However, I like to make my spanakopita in a large baking dish, keeping it very traditional. It can either be served as a main dish or cut into smaller pieces and eaten as a snack or as part of meze (Greek starters, similar to Spanish tapas).
My recipe below serves 6-8 people. It is a great vegetarian dish that I usually either serve alongside a meat dish or serve with a large Greek salad and a dollop of tzatziki on the side. Spanakopita should ideally be eaten the same day you make it as the phyllo pastry becomes less crisp the second day, but if you warm it up in the oven (never in the microwave as it gets soggy), it tastes just as good!
Ingredients
500g filo pastry
1kg fresh spinach
2 large leeks
500g feta cheese
60g rice
30g butter
2-3 tablespoons of fresh dill
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 medium onions
2 eggs
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Wash the spinach and add to a saucepan of boiling water for 3-5 min. Drain, squeeze out all the water and set aside (if you don't have a big saucepan you may need to do a few batches as there is a lot of spinach - Popeye would be in heaven!)
2. Finely chop the leeks and onion. Saute both in a large fry pan with a tablespoon of oil until soft and brown
3. Boil rice for approx. 10 min until soft, drain any remaining water and set aside
4. Add the spinach, chopped dill and parsley to the onions and leeks and stir
5. Whisk two eggs in a bowl, add to the fry pan and mix in with the rest of the ingredients, season with salt and pepper
6. Crumble the feta cheese into small pieces and mix it in with the mixture above (delicious)
7. Melt the butter in a cup in the microwave and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil
8. Grease a large baking tray with the olive oil and butter mixture
Now the fun bit begins:
9. Line the baking tray with 1 packet of filo pastry. Brush each sheet separately with the butter and olive oil mixture using a pastry brush, just like my picture below
10. Make sure the pastry is hanging over the edges so that you can fold it over to make a crisp golden crust
11. Add the mixture from the saucepan as the filling and spread out evenly over the pastry in the baking tray
12. Use the filo pastry from the second pack to cover the filling, ensuring the edges are hanging over the baking try as before. Don't forget to brush each sheet separately with the butter and olive oil mixture (you may need to add a tad more olive oil if you are running low)
13. Fold the sides back over into the tray to create that crispy crust around the edge of the tray and brush with the butter and olive oil so that it turns a gorgeous golden colour when baked
14. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 mins or until golden brown
15. Let it cool slightly before serving
Kali orexi - enjoy!!
Your mama's Spanakopita is the bestest!!! And you're looks super duper delicious too Ouranakimou! :)
ReplyDeleteBetty x
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