Rosie Rings In The New Year With Spanakopita.

 

 I can't believe I've made it this long without making spanakopita.  And now, I have finally corrected that error.  In case you're unfamiliar with this dish, it's a savory Greek pie with crisp layers of phyllo pastry encasing a spinach and feta cheese filling.  I have made my own phyllo dough years ago when I made baklava from scratch, but because of time constraints and the fact that I'm just plain lazy right now, I'm using store-bought phyllo sheets.  The dish comes together in minutes, then bakes for about an hour until the pastry is crisp and delicately browned.  Then it's crackled-cut and served.

 It's festive.  It's fun. And it's perfect for the between Christmas and New Years no-man's land.

You'll find lots of versions of spanakopita, so I just went along, picking and choosing with whatever  ingredients I had.  You'll want phyllo sheets, unsalted melted butter, olive oil, spinach, onions, scallions, dill leaves, parsley, feta,  eggs, milk, and cream.

 

 

  Rosie's Spanakopita

 For 1 - 10" x 6" x 2" glass baking dish

2 5-oz bags fresh spinach (If you have more, no problem. My original recipe called for 2 pounds spinach, but I wasn't making another trip out. If you decide to use more spinach, just add in an extra egg and more milk, cream, and feta to compensate for the extra spinach. This is a case where "more is more!"

1/3 cup chopped onions

1/3 cup chopped scallions

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup 2% milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup finely chopped dill leaves

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 tsp kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1/2 lb feta cheese, crumbled

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

16 sheets, phyllo pastry (approximately 12" x 16") at room temperature

 

In a heavy 10-12 inch skillet, heat a few tablespoons olive oil over moderate heat, then add onions and scallions, stirring frequently, and cook about 5 minutes.  Stir in spinach, cover, and cook for about 4 minutes.  Add dill, parsley, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly for about 7 minutes, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Transfer spinach to medium bowl and let cool a bit, then stir in the milk/cream mixture.  Add in the feta and slowly beat in the eggs.  Taste test and adjust seasoning if necessary.

 

 Heat oven to 300°.

 

With a pastry brush, coat bottom and sides of baking pan with melted butter.  Line the dish with a sheet of phyllo, pressing the edges firmly into the corners and against the sides of the dish.  Brush the entire surface of the pastry with more butter, spreading it all the way to the outside edges.  Lay another sheet of phyllo on top.  Spread with butter, and continue constructing in this fashion until you have used 8 layers of phyllo sheets.

 

Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the last layer of phyllo and smooth it into the corners.  Then place a sheet of phyllo on top, brush with butter, and repeat with remaining layers of phyllo and butter as before - 8 layers.  Roll up or trim excess pastry from around the rim of the dish and brush top of pie with remaining butter.

 

Bake in a 300° oven about one hour, rotating halfway through, until pastry is crisp and delicately browned.   Remove from oven, let cool a bit, then cut into serving squares or rectangles.

 Here's everything I'm using.  As I said, if you want to go with more spinach, by all means do.  Just add more of everything else.  This is not written in stone.

Choppy.  Choppy.

Mincey.  Mincey. 

Sauté onions and scallions in olive oil.

Add in spinach and cook.

Remember to stir.

Add in parsley and dill.

And cook until liquid is evaporated.

Remove spinach mixture to bowl, let cool a bit, and add milk/cream.

Add in feta.

Stir in beaten eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now let's start the assembly:

 

Brush phyllo sheet with butter.

Layer and butter 8 sheets.

Spinach mixture in.

Smooth it out to edges.

Continue layering with phyllo sheets and butter on top.  8 more sheets. 

Bake in 300° oven and mine was ready in about 55 minutes. 

Crackling Good!

OH, how festive!

Oh, how delicious!

This is a wonderful dish with which to celebrate the new year 

And that's one of my favorite photographs in the background of Reba and my granddaughter.  All a girl needs is a the perfect hat, a pair of boots, and a good dog!

Yes.  My house is lived in and all the stools are topped with books, magazines, and recipes.

I didn't even bother to edit it out. 

I told you I was lazy. 

Ooooh.   I love those cracklins!

Enjoy.

Happy New Year!