It's All Greek To Me.

Due to the fact that I hadn't cooked for an ultra-long time and really felt like messing up the kitchen, last weekend I made this:



It's called spanakopita (σπανακόπιτα) and it happens to be a Greek pastry dish not unlike burek. I was introduced to burek by some Greek friends, and fell in love with it but never actually got round to trying my hand at it. Then a couple of months ago we bought spanakopita and tried it...and I started up a new love affair! Luckily I had a recipe for it in my Anthony Telford cookbook I blogged about a couple of months ago, so I gave it a shot!

Here is the recipe:

1 bunch spinach
500g Australian feta, crumbled
500g fresh firm ricotta
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon mint or dill (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
8 filo pastry sheets
3 tablespoons olive oil

1) Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare a baking dish by lightly greasing with oil.

2)Wash the spinach thoroughly and place in a pot of boiling water. Cook for 20 seconds or until wilted. Drain and run under cold water to refresh and stop the cooking. When cool, squeeze the excess water from the spinach. You will have approximately 2 cups cooked spinach.

I had silverbeet, which was tough but alright to use. The book says that more spinach can be used if wanted. I broke the leaves away from the stem (which you don't use because it is tough as anything) and then shredded them using my hands. They wilt pretty quickly.

3)Place the spinach in a bowl, add the feta, ricotta, eggs, parsley, mint or dill (if using) and salt, and mix thoroughly. If you make this, be sure to CRUMBLE the feta into very small pieces. You don't want lumps in there. I also found I didn't have to add the salt because the feta made it salty enough. Be sure to mix it really well. Anthony Telford suggests Australian feta because he says it is 'less salty than European feta, therefore allowing the cook to control the saltiness of the dish'.

4)Place four sheets of filo in the prepared baking dish and brush each layer with oil. This forms the bottom layer. Working with the pastry was the hardest part for me. I had never used filo pastry before and was very clumsy! It is crazily thin and breaks easily, plus it dries out super fast. To stop it drying out I covered the sheets I wasn't using with a damp tea towel...which worked. Make sure you oil the sheets well and cover the base and sides of the dish with the pastry. The book also suggests using puff pastry...which I think I may try next time! If using puff pastry, you only need one sheet for the top and one for the bottom.

5)Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the filo. Repeat the filo layers for the top, brushing each sheet with oil. If there is excess filo, just fold it into the side of the dish.

6)Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy on top. I have a fan-forced oven so I set the timer to 20 minutes, which was adequate.
My spanakopita didn't look like the one above but it sure was fun to make, and it went in a flash! It is traditionally served as finger food, so wait until it cools and cut into individual pieces. If you want to eat it all on your own, then don't worry about the cutting.
This recipe serves 6 and the finished product tastes good (if I do say so myself). Definitely one I'll be making again.