Last weekend, we had a birthday in the family, and just for fun, we decided to have a Greek-themed potluck dinner. I volunteered to make spanakopita, which is one of my favourite Greek foods. After looking at various recipes, I settled on this one from the Food Network.
The recipe looked pretty easy at first. I decided to make the filling a day ahead so that it could chill in the refrigerator before baking the spanakopita the next day. The part where things got tricky was actually making the spinach pies. Instead of baking it all as one dish, I decided to make individual triangles so that each person would have their own portion.
After figuring out how to fold the first one, the folding part got easier. It was quite a messy project on my kitchen counter, however, with melted butter pretty much everywhere. The spanakopita looked and tasted awesome, however, so it was worth it.
Here’s how I made them.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of fresh spinach
1 bunch green onions
1 handful fresh parsley
¼ cup grapeseed oil
1 cup butter
½ pound feta cheese
1 large egg
1 pound filo pastry, defrosted
A day before you want to make the spanakopita, transfer your filo pastry from the freezer to the refrigerator to begin defrosting. I also decided to make the filling a day before because it needs to cool completely before being wrapped in the pastry.
To make the filling, de-stem and wash the spinach. Wash and chop the green onions, and wash and chop the parsley. Now you’re ready to start cooking.
In a large pot, heat about half of the grapeseed oil (or any cooking oil) over medium heat. I divided my spinach into three batches because of the volume. Cook each batch, draining the water that is released from the spinach in between each batch. Once you’ve cooked all of the spinach, press out as much water as possible.
In the same pot, add the remaining grapeseed or cooking oil and sauté the green onions and parsley for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spinach back into the pot and cook for about a minute more. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the mixture from heat and transfer into a container to cool at room temperature before placing it in the fridge.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350F.
In a small pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter completely. Using a pastry brush, apply some of the melted butter onto two large baking sheets.
Take your spinach filling out of the fridge and crumble all of the feta cheese over top. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and pour it over the spinach. Using your hands, mix everything together so that the cheese and egg are well incorporated.
Unwrap the filo pastry, placing it onto a piece of parchment paper with a clean, damp towel over top to keep the pastry moist. I had never used filo pastry before and was surprised by how quickly it dried out. The key here is to work quickly. I divided each sheet of pastry into thirds and used a sharp knife to slice them all together. To make long strips, I used two pieces of filo pastry for each spanakopita, joining them at the tails so I had one thin, long strip.
To make a spanakopita, “glue” these two long filo pastry strips together using a bit of melted butter. Lightly brush the whole strip of filo with butter. Place about 1 tablespoon full of the spinach mixture at one end of the filo strip, leaving about a 1-inch gap from the edge. Carefully fold that 1-inch gap of filo over the spinach, forming a square, and then fold one corner of that square over to the other side to form a triangle. Continue folding the triangle over itself, as you would fold up a flag. You should end up with one medium triangle.
Repeat this step until all of your spinach mixture is used up. For me, this made about 18 medium-sized spanakopita (each person ate 2 spanakopita as a side dish for dinner).
Lay all of your spanakopita onto the baking trays, leaving a little bit of space in between each one. Brush the tops of each spanakopita with more melted butter. This is a very buttery dish! Pop the trys in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown.
Spanakopita is best enjoyed warm, but I wouldn’t recommend reheating them in a microwave (they’ll go soggy). Instead, to reheat, simply lay them on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for about five minutes to warm up.
I’m happy to say that the spanakopita was a success! Everyone said they tasted good, and I thought they tasted pretty true to what I had eaten at Greek restaurants, just with less salt. I’d definitely make this again, but next time, I might try baking it as one, large, layered pie.
