So... its time to show my real, ethnic colours tonight. I’m attempting to make my (Greek) family recipe for Spinach and Feta Pie or as the Greek's call it- Spanakopita. This recipe was given to my mum, from my Yaya (Dad’s mum). It's a dish that I've grown to love and truly appreciate because it's oh, so very yummy! I looked around a few cook-books we had here at home to get a better idea of the technique. Here's the recipe I used today:
Here's what you need:
- Around 600g of fresh spinach (3 bunches) At first it looks like way too much, but it all shrinks down after you boil it.
- 1 onion
- 2 eggs
- 2 bunches of fresh Dill
- 400g Feta cheese
- 125g unsalted butter
- One packet of filo pastry (Antonious- mums fave filo brand)
- 3 Tbsp Ricotta Cheese
Here's how to make it:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 Degrees C.
2. The first important step with spinach (from the stalk) is to wash it thoroughly. I found the easiest and most effective way is to fill the sink with water, then soak the whole bunch of spinach. Trust me... you want to wash it; I found a not-so-friendly worm on one of the leaves, not so sure he would taste good in the pie.
3. Before chopping the spinach, place it in a large saucepan and cover with water, add a teaspoon of salt and boil.
4. While that’s boiling, chop up your onions and try not to cry as much as I did this time. Lightly saute' the onions.
5. Break up feta cheese into little bits (I used my hands, its way easier) and place in a large bowl.
6. Break the stems off the dill and cut up as best as you can. Place it the bowl with the feta.
7. Once the spinach is boiled, drain the water out with a strainer and chop up as small as you can! Then add it to the bowl.
8. Lightly beat up two eggs and mix them in with everything else.
9. For the final secret ingredient, add three tablespoons of ricotta cheese- not part of my grandma's recipe, but I was feeling adventurous again.
10. Now for the pastry- filo pastry is pretty tricky; if you leave it out too long it will dry out, so you have to work fast! Firstly, melt your unsalted butter in a bowl in the microwave (make sure its un-salted otherwise the salt in the feta and butter will be far too much).
11. Your going to work with 2 layers of pastry at a time, make sure you put the rest of the pastry under a tea towel so it doesn’t dry out. Place 2 pieces of pastry on top of each other on a board and lightly brush the top with butter.
12. Brush the bottom of your pan with butter and place your first layer of 2x pastry sheets on the bottom. Do this 4 times so you have 8 layers of pastry as the base of your pie. Try to fold the pastry over the edge of the pan.
13. Place your feta/spinach mixture into the pan, ontop of the bottom layer of pastry. And smooth into the corners of the pan.
14. Do the same thing with the top layer of pastry- 4 layers of 2x filo pastry brushed with butter. Once your done with that, brush the top with butter again, (I know, a lot of butter, but its to make sure the pie doesn’t burn or dry out)
15. Fold the pastry sticking out the edges of your pan over the top.
16. Place pie in the oven for 30-40, minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
The Result:
Taste's just like Yaya's Spanakopita, except don't tell mum...I think mine tastes better. The ricotta breaks up the tastes and compliments the feta quite well. Pretty impressed with my first spinach pie! You can also use this feta/spinach mixture to make spinach triangles! So, I think i'll try that next time to mix it up.
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