Spanakopita

canarygirl's Note:

My interpretation of a traditional Greek dish. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 1 tablespoon dill
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• salt
• pepper
• ¼ cup butter or ¼ cup margarine
• 1 (200 g) package feta cheese
• 12 sheets phyllo pastry
• ¼ cup melted butter , for brushing pastry

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°.
2. Drain spinach of all liquid.
3. Sauteé onions and garlic in 1/4 cup butter until tender, then add spinach, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Sauteé 1-2 more minutes.
5. in a large bowl, combine spinach mixture, eggs, dill, lemon juice and crumbled feta.
6. Butter a 7" springform pan.
7. Place phyllo between a damp (but not wet) tea towel so it doesn't dry out.
8. Layer 6 sheets of phyllo in the pan, brushing each with melted butter.
9. Fill with spinach mixture and fold edges over.
10. Layer 6 more sheets of phyllo, brushing each with melted butter.
11. Use a scissors to round the edges and cut 6 or 8 triangles in the top.
12. Bake 45 minutes or until golden -- allow to stand 10 minutes before removing the springform.
13. This can also be made into individual packets instead of a pie shape.

Reviews

[ciao]

This was the most delicious spanokopitta I've ever tasted, and I've tasted alot. I was amazed how much the lemon juice and the dill brightened the flavor of the spinach mixture. My husband and I decided it's better than the spinach pita we get at the annual Greek Festival here in town. It really is! (But don't tell all the little old Greek ladies that make it, lol) My only problem was with the phyllo. I had a defective box. :0 All the sheets were split down the middle, and stuck together in the same spot. I had one heck of a time! But if you follow canarygirl's instuctions that s'kat mentions above, you can do it! Even with my phyllo a mess, I was able to patch up spots by brushing melted butter, and "glueing" on smaller pieces. And with all the mess that I made, it looked perfect out of the oven! It's all crackly after baking anyway, so mistakes just don't show. I will make this again, and I won't flip out if I have trouble with the phyllo, and anyone that wants to make this shouldn't, either. Great recipe cg-thanks! Oh! I only had a 9" springform pan, so it was not as tall as in the pic above, but still tasty--just bake for 25-30 minutes. canarygirl told me that when the phyllo is golden brown, it's done. :)

[Ducky]

I made the individual packets and the instructions and pictures from 'the class' were easy to follow. I was able to get 20 packets. I froze them and baked them later. My problem was that 3 of the 4 people having these found out that they don't like feta cheese (and I didn't use the entire amount listed) and therefore, didn't finish them. Luckily, the other person really liked them and got the remaining 15 packets to take home. For us, a different filling may work better.

[Donna]

Excellent! I found the flavor of this recipe to be so delicious and I even messed it up in 2 ways, well one was not really a mess up but I was out of black pepper so i used cayenne, and I forgot the lemon and it was still SO delicious, I am eating the last piece as i type this and I am going out to buy the things to make it again to share with people I work with as 2 days in a row I tortured them by taking it for lunchQ I found the recipe to be very easy and it was alot of fun and the taste mmmmmmm. Thanks cg great work!