Spanakopita
From nikchick 17 years ago
- 45 minutes to make
- Serves 10
This is my mother-in-law's recipe for Spanakopita. In order to write it down for me she had to make it and write down each step as she did it because she makes it by heart every time.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil shopping list
- 2 small bunches scallions, green parts included, chopped shopping list
- 21/2 to 3 pounds spinach, washed and thoroughly drained (or use 3 or 4 packages frozen spinach thawed, drained and squeezed in a towel to get all the moisture out and then chopped.) shopping list
- 1 small bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped shopping list
- 1 small bunch fresh dill, chopped (except for hard stems) shopping list
- salt and freshly ground pepper shopping list
- 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled (Domestic Feta is ok to use for this recipe) shopping list
- 3 to 4 eggs, lightly beaten shopping list
- About 12 commercial sheets of filo, unrolled flat and kept covered with a damp towel to avoid drying shopping list
- 6 tbsp. melted clarified butter or use olive oil for greasing baking pan and to layer filo shopping list
- bread crumbs or a handful of raw long grain rice like Uncle Ben's shopping list
How to make it
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the scallions until soft.
- Meanwhile, pan the spinach if fresh spinach is being used (cook it without adding water, then drain and thoroughly and squeeze out as much liquid as possible and chop. See above if using frozen spinach). Add the spinach to scallions and stir in the parsley, dill and a very little salt and pepper. Cook gently for 10 minutes, then cool. (This much can be done in advance and stored in the refrigerator.) Using a wooden spoon, stir in the feta cheese and beaten eggs. Now assemble the pie, using commercial filo. (If using frozen filo, thaw overnight in refrigerator prior to using.)
- Brush olive or butter in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and spread 6 to 8 pieces of filo sheets in pan brushing each one with olive oil using a pastry brush. (Can use clarified melted butter, but olive oil is preferred in this recipe.)
- Pour in the spinach filling (Add a handful of rice or bread crumbs to absorb any excess liquid that may still be in the spinach prior to placing filling in the pan. I usually throw in the rice to make sure filling will not be soggy after baking), then cover with the remaining filo sheets, brushing each of the 6 to 8 pieces of filo with olive oil as you proceed with the layering. Tuck the top filo over the bottom and flute the edges. Brush top with more olive oil as needed. Using a sharp knife score the pie in squares or diamonds just through the top layers of filo (this is done to keep the filo layers from popping up and splitting).
- Bake in a moderate oven, 350 degrees, for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and flaky. Slice through scored squares. Remove with a spatula. Serve warm or cold.
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