Spanakopita (Greek Spinach and Cheese Pie) Print



Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs fresh spinach- or – 2 10 oz pkgs of chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.
4 tblsp or so Olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (I used green onions)
Fresh parsley
8 oz. feta cheese
15 oz. Ricotta cheese
4 eggs 
½ tsp salt, pepper 
½ stick of butter, melted
1 package phylo dough

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Clean, stem and chop the spinach.
  2. Saute in olive oil.
  3. Add onions and parsley.
  4. Add salt and pepper.
  5. Cool spinach.
  6. Add cheeses and eggs, mix thoroughly.

ASSEMBLY:
  1. Have on hand: a 1 lb package defrosted phylo dough, and 1/2 lb melted butter.
  2. Cut phylo dough in half. Put half in a zip lock bag and store in the fridge for later.
  3. Unwrap and unroll phylo dough.  Keep covered at all times with a slightly damp, clean towel, as uncovered phylo will dry out and become unusable.
  4. lay out one strip of phylo, brush with melted butter.
  5. Put 2 tbsp of spinach mixture at one end of the phylo and begin to roll up by folding one corner up into a triangle.  Fold up just like you would fold a flag.
  6. Brush the final triangle shape with butter.
  7. Lay out one more strip of phylo, brush with butter, and roll up again. I only rolled each one twice.  You can do more if you like thicker pastry.
  8. Place on cookie sheet.
  9. Repeat until you've used up the dough or the spinach mixture.
  10. Bake in warm oven for 30 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Julia Camp