Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

I have been wanting to try making spanakopita ever since I started exploring Greek cuisine. Spanakopita is a Greek pastry filled with spinach and cheese. I had been putting off making it because I had not worked with phyllo dough and it sounded a bit intimidating. Since I had now used phyllo dough to make baklava there were no more excuses to stop me from making the spanakopita.

The spanakopita turned out to be really easy to make. The filling is as simple as blanching the spinach and mixing all of the ingredients. The hardest part was working with the phyllo dough and once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy as well. The phyllo dough needed to be thawed in the fridge over night. I set up a working area where I could stack the unused phyllo dough, brush the phyllo sheet that I was currently working on and then easily place it into the baking pan. With everything set up ahead of time working with the phyllo dough was pretty easy and the spanakopita came together in no time.

I decided to go with a pretty simple recipe sticking to the basics of spinach, feta and dill. The spanakopita was so amazingly good!! Spinach, feta and dill has to be one my favorites flavour combinations! The crust was nice and light and flaky and golden brown and crunchy and good. The Spinach filling was moist and super tasty! I made the crust thick enough that I could pick up the slice and eat it without having to cut it with an knife and fork. The leftovers still tasted great right out of the fridge but the crust was no longer crispy. I can't wait to make this again!

Ingredients:
1 pound spinach
5 ounces feta cheese (crumbled)
1/2 cup dill (chopped)
3 green onions (chopped)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
phyllo dough (thawed over night in the fridge)

Directions:
1. Steam the spinach until it wilts.
2. Run the spinach under cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. Squeeze the spinach and drain.
4. Mix the spinach, feta, dill, green onions, eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
5. Brush the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan with olive oil.
6. Brush the top of a sheet of phyllo dough with olive oil and place it in the pan. (You may have to cut the phyllo dough to fit the pan.)
7. Repeat until you have 6-8 layers depending on how thick you want the crust.
8. Place the spinach mixture on top of the phyllo dough.
9. Brush the top of a sheet of phyllo dough with olive oil and place it on the spinach.
10. Repeat until you have 6-8 layers depending on how thick you want the crust.
11. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown on top, about 30-50 minutes.

Similar Recipes:
Savoury Pumpkin Pie (Kolokithopita)
Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach Rice)
Spinach with Feta Dressing

Take a look at Peter's great Spanakopita post for instructions for making the phyllo dough.

Take a look at the Weekend Herb Blogging roundup at Coffee and Vanilla.