Spanakopita

A classic Greek pie made with phyllo dough, spinach, herbs and feta cheese. While I am usually a purest making all my ingredients from scratch, when it comes to phyllo, I buy frozen. The important thing about using frozen phyllo is to thaw it out in the fridge at least 14 hours before starting, making sure to keep it in it’s packaging. Again, while I usually cook fresh in my recipes, for Spanakopita I find chopped and frozen spinach to be better suited. Keep in mind that frozen produce is harvested at peak time and immediately processed, making it often better than fresh produce that can sit for months between harvest and table. After you get past those to tidbits, the rest of this recipe is not only so easy-peasy an engineer could make it, it is so tasty people will think you’re part Greek.

Ingredients

• 16 oz. Frozen chopped spinach – thoroughly thawed and well-drained
• 12 oz. feta cheese – crumbled
• 16 oz package of phyllo dough – thoroughly thawed
• 8 oz. extra virgin olive oil – for dough
• 2 bunches flat-leaf parsley – finely chopped with upper stems
• 1 onion – finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves – minced
• 2 tsp dried dill weed
• 2 TBL extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large eggs
• Freshly-ground black pepper

Process

1. Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
2. Thaw out dough in fridge at least 14 hours prior to starting – keep in packaging.
3. Thaw out spinach in coriander at least 1 hour before starting.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 degs F.
5. Make Filling:
   1. Squeeze spinach multiple times to drain out excess liquid. You want this as dry as possible.
   2. Mix together the spinach, feta, parsley, onion, garlic and dill with the raw eggs. Stir until mixed well.
6. Prepare the phyllo
   1. Unroll phyllo sheets and place between two slightly damp kitchen cloths.
   2. Prepare a 9 ½” X 13″ baking dish by brush the bottom and sides of the dish with olive oil.
7. Assemble the Spanakopita:
   1. Line the baking dish with two sheets of phyllo letting them cover the sides of the dish. Brush with olive oil.
   2. Add two more sheets in the same manner, and brush them with olive oil.
   3. Repeat until you have used two-thirds of the phyllo.
   4. Evenly spread the spinach filling over the phyllo.
   5. Top with two more sheets, and brush with olive oil. Repeat until the phyllo is all used.
   6. Brush the very top layer with olive oil, and sprinkle with a few drops of water.
   7. Fold the flaps from the sides of the bottom phyllo. Brush the folded sides well with olive oil. 
8. Bake for 1 hour, or until the crust is crisp and golden brown.
9. Remove from the oven and cut into squares.