Spanakopita is the Greek spinach pie made with filo pastry – tissue-thin sheets that make for flaky results! It is a savory dish perfect for breakfast, quick snack or lunch!
Serves: 8 Preparation: 20′ Cooks in: 1h & 10′ Ready in: 1h & 30′
Ingredients
1 package filo pastry
1 kg spinach leaves, washed
5 spring onions, washed, dry, finely chopped
2 leeks, washed, dry
1 red onion, finely chopped
1½ cup dill, finely chopped
3 eggs
600 gr feta cheese, crushed
extra-virgin olive oil for the filo sheets
salt, freshly ground black pepper
For brushing:
1 cup milk & 1/3 extra virgin olive oil & 1 egg, beaten together
Method
Step 1
Put the spinach into a large bowl. Season with salt and start squeezing with your hands until it wilts. Tip into a sieve, then squeeze out any excess water and roughly chop.
Step 2
In large pan put the leeks with a couple tbsp water, then cook until just wilted. Add fresh onions, dill and wilted spinach.
Step 3
In a separate bowl mix eggs and feta cheese. Season with pepper and a little salt – be careful because feta cheese is salty. Tip the eggs and feta with the spinach mixture and combine well.
Step 4
Brush a rectangle baking tin really well. Unroll the filo pastry carefully. Take the first sheet and brush it really well with olive oil, covering the rest with some damp sheets of kitchen paper to prevent drying out. Take the oiled filo and cover the bottom of the tin, allowing the edges to hang over the sides. Brush the second sheet with olive oil and lay it on top of the first one. Repeat until you have used half the sheets.
Step 5
Spoon over the filling. Pull the sides into the middle, brush and oil the rest of the sheets, covering the filling. Scrunch up the edges and brush with a little more oil.
Score the pie deeply using a sharp knife.
Step 5
Preheat oven to 180C/fan. Cook the spanakopita for 15 mins. 15 minutes later pour the milk-oil-egg mixture over the spanakopita and bake for another 30 mins until pie is crisp and golden brown.
