Spanakopita (Greek Spinach and Feta Pie)

Submitted by Abby Falck

"You can make this recipe with fresh spinach or three boxes of frozen chopped spinach; fresh spinach will have a better flavor and texture, but it takes much longer to wash and stem. Baby spinach works very well and requires less work, if you don't mind paying the extra price."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 8-12

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 - 2 lbs spinach leaves
• 1⁄2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup dill, chopped
• 2 cups scallions, chopped
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons coarsely ground sea salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 3 cups yellow onions, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄2 lb feta cheese, crumbled
• 14 sheets phyllo pastry sheets
• 1⁄2 cup butter, melted or 1/2 cup cooking spray

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375º F.
2. (For fresh spinach) Working in batches, wash and drain the spinach. Discard any large stems and chop the leaves coarsely. Combine the spinach, parsley, dill, green onions and salt. Let stand in a colander for 15 minutes and then press out the liquid. (For frozen spinach) Thaw the spinach and squeeze out most of the water, leaving just a little to prevent it drying out in the oven. Combine with the parsley, dill, green onions and salt.
3. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, then add the onions and saute until transparent.
4. Adjust the heat to medium, add the spinach mixture in batches and saute until the spinach and herbs are wilted.
5. Turn off the heat and stir the feta and black pepper into the mixture.
6. Butter a 10"x17"x2" baking pan and lay 8 filo sheets in the bottom, brushing each layer with butter or spraying it with oil.
7. Spread the spinach mixture into the baking pan.
8. Cover with the remaining filo sheets, brushing each layer with butter or spraying it with oil.
9. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Reviews

[Muffin Goddess]

I already knew that I like to eat Spanakopita, but I had never made my own before, so this was a bit of fun for me. Never having worked with uncooked phyllo before, I was a little surprised at how papery it is. The only change I would make is to make this thicker, whether by decreasing the pan size or increasing the recipe. Other than that, I found this to be perfect. Thanks for posting! Made for PAC Fall '12

 

[kevinmerkin]

I made this for the first time and was very impressed. I was cooking for a lot of folks and one of them was vegetarian so I needed a main dish for her. I made it in a 10 by 10 pan with a little over a pound of fresh spinach, one full onion, three medium shallots and the rest of the stuff about what was called for. I cooked the spinach filling on the stove as called for (without the cheese) three hours ahead of time and put it in the fridge because I was going out for a while. 1 hour before dinner I preheated the oven, mixed the cheese in and put butter between and on top of the phyllo sheets, and baked it for 45 minutes. My vegetarian guest said it was better than the Spanakopita she had at a restaurant! Others loved it also.<br/><br/>Definitely making it again!