spanakopita makes a great side dish for large holiday dinners next to lamb or lemon chicken. But it can easily stand alone as the main dish. Serve it with a big salad like Greek salad; Balela; or this Mediterranean chickpea salad, and favorite dips like Greek Tzatziki or Roasted Garlic Hummus.
Spanakopita is a popular Greek savory pie made of perfectly flaky phyllo dough with a comforting filling of spinach and feta cheese nestled in. If you’re not familiar with phyllo dough, it is basically layered sheets of tissue-thin pastry dough, typically found in the freezer section next to things like pie crust and puff pastry.
when I was at an Atlanta-area Greek festival a few weeks ago, my daughter’s lunch of choice was a piece of spanakopita and a side of Greek salad. Luckily, she allowed me a taste.
Foolproof family recipe for Spanakopita,Delicious savory Greek pie made of perfectly crispy layers of phyllo dough and a comforting filling of spinach and feta cheese.
INGREDIENTS
For the Spinach and Feta Filling
- 16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
- 2 bunches flat-leaf parsley, stems trimmed, finely chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil
- 4 eggs
- 10.5 oz quality feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tsp dried dill weed
- Freshly-ground black pepper
For the Crust
- 1 16 oz package The Fillo Factory Organic Dough (#4 pastry sheets), properly thawed (see tips above)
- 1 cup Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil, more if needed.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Before you begin mixing the filling, be sure the spinach is very well drained, and squeeze out any excess liquid by hand.
- To make the filling: In a mixing bowl, add the spinach and the remaining filling ingredients. Stir until all is well-combined.
- Unroll the phyllo (fillo) sheets and place them between two slightly damp kitchen cloths.
- Prepare a 9 ½” X 13″ baking dish like this one. Brush the bottom and sides of the dish with olive oil.
- To assemble the spanakopita: Line the baking dish with two sheets of phyllo (fillo) letting them cover the sides of the dish. Brush with olive oil. Add two more sheets in the same manner, and brush them with olive oil. Repeat until two-thirds of the phyllo (fillo) is used up.
- Now, evenly spread the spinach and feta filling over the phyllo (fillo) crust. Top with two more sheets, and brush with olive oil.
- Continue to layer the phyllo (fillo) sheets, two-at-a-time, brushing with olive oil, until you have used up all the sheets. Brush the very top layer with olive oil, and sprinkle with just a few drops of water.
- Fold the flaps or excess from the sides, you can crumble them a little. Brush the folded sides well with olive oil. Cut Spanakopita ONLY PART-WAY through into squares, or leave the cutting to later.
- Bake in the 325 degrees F heated-oven for 1 hour, or until the phyllo (fillo) crust is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven. Finish cutting into squares and serve.
