SPANAKOPITA – a Greek delight. What a pie! #spanakopita #spanakopitarecipe #recipe #howto

This looks MUCH more difficult than it actually is. A few simple steps will provide great results. Use shop bought filo pastry as this is a whole different subject to create.

Remove as much water as is physically possible from the spinach leaves before use as there is already enough moisture in the other filling ingredients.

When starting, use at least 2-3 layers of pastry as the base, separating each layer from the pack and spreading with melted butter on your baking tray before laying another layer of pastry on top and spreading more butter as before.

When layering, start with the pastry base followed by the Spinach filling and leave a 1 inch gap around the edges as shown in the video. This should be followed by the next layer of pastry, then butter, followed by the parmesan then pastry agin. Use all the filling, pastry and parmesan until it runs out saving the last 2 layers of pastry for the top. The last 2 layers of pastry should be only separated by the layer of butter for a better finish.

Ingredients:

The Spinach –

300g Spinach Leaves (trimmed of all stems, throroghly washed and dried and roughly chopped)

1 tsp Salt

The Filling –

175g Greek Feta Cheese

120g Greek Yoghurt

2 Green Onions (Scallions) (finely sliced)

1 Egg

2 tbsp Fresh Mint Leaves (finely chopped)

1 tbsp Fresh Dill (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp Lemon Zest

1/2 tbsp Lemon Juice

2 – 3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (or less to taste)

The Pastry –

14 Sheets Filo Pastry (roughly 2 packets)

120g Butter (melted)

60g Greek Kefalotyri Cheese (or Parmesan if you cant get Kefalotyri)

1 tsp Sesame Seeds