Recipe

Spinach Borek -- Spanakopita Recipe

	Leilaniblue / All my dishes 1 year, 11 months ago Spinach and feta cheese filled pastry. Perfect for special event appetizers (and great leftovers for lunch). Prep:90m Cook:50m Servings:8	Leilaniblue
	turkish worththeeffort

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Ingredients

2 lb fresh spinach

1 lb phyllo (filo) dough

7 eggs

1/2 lb feta cheese

1 medium onion

olive oil

salt

black pepper

oregano

1/2 lb butter

Directions

Note: This Turkish pastry is a production, but it's well worth the effort. See Time-Saver option below (step 21+) if short on time.

Remove phyllo from refrigerator at least 2 hours ahead of time.

Leave covered until filling is ready.

Prepare filling: Wash spinach carefully and place leaves in large bowl.

Sprinkle well with salt and rub salt into leaves, tearing leaves into small pieces until spinach is wilted and reduced to about a third of its original amount.

Rinse salt off thoroughly and drain.

Chop onion coarsely and saute in olive oil until transparent.

Beat eggs.

Crumble feta cheese into eggs.

Add egg mixture and onions to spinach and mix well.

Season generously with black pepper and lightly with oregano to taste.

Set filling aside.

Melt 3-4 tables of butter at a time in small pan.

On washable countertop or large cutting board, spread out phyllo dough on top of waxed paper. (This will be messy so keep dampened paper towels at hand.)

Slice phyllo into handsbreadth (approx. 4" wide) lengths. Cover all but one length with moistened towel or paper towels to keep dough moist.

Add a large spoonful of filling, then fold 3 or 4 layers of phyllo dough over, end to edge, to create a triangle.

Continue folding triangle from side to side until you reach the end of the strip. Some of the filling will leak out but that's part of the fun.

Place the folded triangle into a 9"x13" pan and brush top with melted butter.

Repeat until you run out of either phyllo dough or filling. This recipe usually makes two 9" x 13" pans full of börek.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Serves 8 for dinner or makes great appetizers for party.

Time-saver option:

After preparing filling, butter 9" x 13" pan.

Spread out phylo dough on counter.

Brush butter on top sheet then spread that sheet in pan.

Repeat with each sheet until you have three or four sheets remaining. Rotate each sheet a bit so the corners fan out a bit rather than just being stacked square.

Pour in filling, then fold in the excess phyllo dough from the sides of the pan.

Butter the remaining sheets and tuck them over the top, folding the edges under to fit into the pan.

Pierce the top layers with a sharp knife three or four times.

Brush the top again with butter and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.

Cut into triangles or squares and serve hot.

Chill any leftovers and eat them cold or reheat in microwave. My adoptive Turkish "anne" sent me to school with börek as a brown bag lunch in place of a sandwich.

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