Spanakopita - Greek Spinach & Fillo Pie

The Golden Pie of the Gods - Spanakopita - Greek Fillo and Spinach Pie!

Did you know that there are those among us who don't like spinach? Hard to believe, I know. But so it is. Perhaps that may be contributed to not enough Popeye cartoons as a child, or being forced to eat their canned spinach before leaving the table, or perhaps a salad where the spinach used had not been cleaned properly (thank heavens grocery stores do that for us now!) But if you might not be a spinach enthusiast, this recipe could possibly win you over....thus another victory for iron!

Spinach lovers among us, rejoice at this simple yet marvelous Greek pie where spinach is the God! That lean, green health-food machine, embraces other Greek ingredients in their demi-God roles: olive oil, onion, garlic, mizithra and feta cheese.

And if that weren’t perfection enough, combined with egg and just a pinch of nutmeg, the spinach mixture is encased in a golden crust of phyllo pastry.

Don’t let the phyllo pastry intimidate you - just work slowly and carefully as you peel the paper thin pastry off of the stack and brush generously with melted butter to create this marvelous, buttery, crunchy pie. A definite pie for the Gods (or at least the spinach-lovers among them)

SPANAKOPITA - Greek Spinach Pie

Spinach - frozen, large bag

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup chopped green onion, entire onion

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves finely minced garlic

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup diced artichokes hearts (optional)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Mizithra cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella or provolone cheese

1/2 cup crumbled feta or cottage cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

dash of cayenne pepper

1 package fillo pastry, thawed and at room temperature

1 cup melted butter

-Microwave spinach in open bag in microwave for 3 minutes. Rinse in colander under cold running water. Let drain for 5 minutes, then squeeze and press spinach against sides of colander, until as much water as possible is extracted. Place spinach on chopping board and chop.

-Saute onion in olive oil in large skillet until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the green onion and continue to saute another 5 minutes. Add spinach and garlic to skillet and stir an additional 5 minutes until spinach is quite dry (do not allow to brown.) Remove from heat, place in a large mixing bowl and allow to cool at least 10 minutes.

-Stir the following into the spinach mixture; nutmeg, cayenne, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, cottage cheeses, and artichoke hearts (optional) until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

-Lay stack (1 package) of fillo sheets out on working surface horizontally and unwrap. Butter a 10- inch pie plate or square baking dish. Carefully lift 2 sheets of fillo off of the stack and place the center of the sheets in the center of the pie plate. Brush the top of the 2 sheets with melted butter, covering every exposed surface.

-Repeat with another 2 sheets of pastry, placing them at a slight angle to the previously placed sheets at about a 10 degree angle. Leave the edges of the fillo hanging over the edges of the baking dish. Brush these edges with melted butter as well as the parts of the sheets in the baking dish. Use a total of 10 sheets of fillo pastry.

-Spoon the filling onto top of the buttered pastry and smooth out evenly. Fold the overhanging edges of dough over the top of the filling. Continue layering and buttering sheets of fillo, 2 sheets at a time until you have used another 10 sheets. (You will have to fold the sheets in half or a third under in order to make them fit over the top of the pie.)

-Tuck in the edges of the pastry around the edges of the baking dish and brush the top of the pie well with more melted butter. Score the top 2 - 3 layers of fillo into wedges or squares, depending on the shape of your baking dish. This will allow you to cut the portions after baking with clean edges.

-Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes, until lightly browned and puffy. Remove from oven and let cool 15 - 20 minutes. With a serrated knife, cut through scoring to create pie wedge or square portions. Serve warm or at room temperature.

-Makes 8 servings.

Saute spinach with onions until dry.

Brush fillo sheets thoroughly with melted butter.

Fold edges of fillo over filling and brush with melted butter.

Layer more sheets over the top of the filling and brush with melted butter. Score just the top 2-3 layers of pastry into wedges with a serrated knife.

Cut golden filled pastry into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

PERSNICKETY NOTES:

**If you have never worked with phyllo pastry here are a couple of hints:
-Give yourself plenty of time to work with it -don't rush it.

-Be sure dough is completely thawed in its packaging before using. Let it sit out of the freezer at room temperature fro 2 - 3 hours to thaw.

-Originally, bakers brushed every layer with butter, which you can do, but I brush every two layers which works just as well and uses less butter.

-Sometimes the dough you purchase will be stuck in places and will not easily separate and pull off in complete sheets. Don't worry - do the best you can, flip it over and try the other side and remember, you can patch and leave holes as long as the top layer of whatever you are making is nice and smooth. Sometimes you will have to use 3 layers instead of 2 because you can't separate them - that's okay. Brushing with butter mends a host of cracks and splits.

**Fillo pastry, which originated in Mediterranean countries, dries out very quickly when exposed to air. The only ingredients are water and flour. Be sure to keep sections of pastry you are not working with covered with a towel or plastic wrap until you can get to them. Brushing all exposed surfaces with melted butter before baking is essential to create a crunchy, flaky and buttery product.

**Can you believe that up until the invention of modern machinery fillo dough was made by hand by women who laboriously stretched the dough by rolling and stretching the dough over the backs of their hands, on a large table, to paper thinness!

**When I first started working with fillo pastry it was very hard to find in the U.S. and I usually had to buy it in International markets, which were also hard to find. When it finally did appear in the frozen section of most grocery stores, since it was infrequently bought, I would always pull one from the back as it would be fresher, not having sat in the freezer so long.