Spanakopita
Region: Greece
Category: Antipasto, Meze, Tapas, and Hors d'Oeuvres
Season: Any
Difficulty: Labor Intensive
Apokreos is the week preceding Lent, and tradition calls for eating meat, while during the next week of Lent eggs, butter, and milk products are eaten. This recipe is typically prepared during this period. Although spanakopita is found in nearly every Greek-American fast food joint, in varying degrees of quality, I still love making this spinach pie from scratch and provide this recipe so you can make it at home. Diane Kochilas, author of The Food and Wine of Greece, tells us that the capital of spanakopita making is in Epirus (Ipiros) in northwestern Greece. Her recipe is more complicated than mine, but very good and rewarding. In Turkey an identical pie is made called ispanaki peynirli tepsi böregi which means "spinach-cheese small tray-pie." It might be made with feta cheese and flavored with scallions and dill.
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Preparation Time: 2 hours
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1. Put the spinach in a large pot with only the water clinging to it from the last washing, cover, and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally with a long wooden spoon or a fork, until the spinach has wilted, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain very well, pressing the water out with the back of a wooden spoon, and chop.
2. In the pot you cooked the spinach, melt 6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) of the butter, then cook the spinach over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring. Remove from the heat and turn into a large bowl. Add the beaten eggs, kefalotyri cheese, parsley, béchamel, salt, and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the remaining 7 tablespoons butter with the olive oil in a small saucepan. Grease a 9 x 12-inch baking pan with this mixture using a brush. Unravel the phyllo pastry. Lay in six sheets of the phyllo pasty sheets, brushing each with the melted butter and oil. Brush the first layer liberally. Keep the phyllo pastry sheets humidified with a wet kitchen towel draped over them as you work so they don't dry out. The pastry should go up the sides of the pan. Spread the spinach evenly over the top of the pastry sheets. Cover the spinach with six more sheets of pastry, brushing each with butter. Fold the edges of any phyllo pastry sheets over and liberally brush the top with the remaining olive oil and butter.
4. Bake until the top is golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes, cut into squares, and serve at room temperature.
Note: You may add a little chopped scallion or dill to the spinach.
Posted: 01/10/2007
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