Look, I’m starting you off with the classics right? After mousaka the only food that can follow is spanakopita. Spanakopita is a savoury pastry with spinach, feta cheese and eggs filling. It’s a really comforting pie and with all that spinach inside it you can even say its healthy! It is right??
I was first introduced to this recipe when I first met my mother-in-law. Spanakopita is one of her specialities and since we don’t make spanakopita in Cypriot houses, I was eager to learn it.
Traditionally, spanakopita was quite a laborious pie as women used to make the phylo pastry and add many ingredients in the spinach mixture like Bulgar wheat or traxana which is like a fermented mixture of grain. Thankfully, the modern version of spanakopita is much easier and simple. We can now buy any pastry we like, prepare the filling and bake.
After baking it, you can easily serve it at a dinner party as a starter or along with your main. I have also come to realise that its a very child friendly pie as well! My girls and their friends (who aren’t Greek) absolutely love spanakopita and what better way for them to eat spinach!
Right, let’s get cooking my darlings!
INGREDIENTS
Yields 12-15pieces
2 packets of shortcrust pastry
700gr frozen spinach
200gr feta cheese
2 eggs
¼ cup milk (optional)
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp fresh or dried dill
6-7 spring onions chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt/pepper
1 egg to brush the pie
Sesame seeds (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Finely chop the spring onions and dill
Step 2
In a pan, add the spinach and on a low heat, let it defrost. Make sure there is no liquid left when cooking the spinach.
Step 3
Once the spinach is defrosted, add the olive oil and chopped spring onions. Let the onions soften for an extra 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
Step 4
Pre-heat the oven at 180ºC fan.
Step 5
In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the salt, pepper, dill and oregano. Crumble the feta, not too finely, and mix everything together.
Step 6
Once the spinach has cooled, add the egg and feta mixture and combine well. If you think the mixture looks dry, add some whole milk. Remember, that we don’t want the mixture to be wet.
Step 7
In a rectangle Pyrex, place the first shortcrust pastry. Add the spinach mixture and spread evenly.
Step 8
Then, add the second pastry sheet and pinch the edges using your fingers or a fork.
Step 9
Bit one egg and brush the top of the pie.
Step 10
Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you wish.
Step 11
Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
Step 12
Let it cool at least one hour before cutting so all the juices get incorporated.
♥Extra Tips
Spanakopita, is a healthy delicious pie. It can be eaten as breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack or even as a starter. If you would like it to be lighter you can always exclude the feta cheese.
When preparing it, make sure the mixture isn’t too wet as this would cause your pastry to be soggy. Bake for one hour and even a bit more to achieve a nice bake inside. Spanakopita requires quite a bit of salt and pepper as the spinach can be quite bland.
I personally prefer using frozen spinach instead of fresh as its a lot easier to store and its economical too. You can of course use fresh by following the same process.
Since the feta cheese used its incorporated with the rest of the spinach mixture, there is no need to buy expensive feta. Just make sure to be made in Greece so that you get the authentic flavour.
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