Spanakopita is translated from Greek to "spinach pie". These tasty little parcels, traditionally are made with only spinach and feta. By adding any greens, my Greek friend Panos tells me they are called Prasopita "green pie". Yes, you can buy many frozen, pre-made versions of these! But, making them yourself has such a truly fresh and flaky flavour, you just can't get with store-bought.
They can be made into larger triangles if you want to make meal sized triangles. But, these are optimal for appetizers (ahem, the holidays are right around the corner). Yes, it may just be you and your other half and no big parties so, great news, these freeze really well. Simply freeze uncooked triangles in a single layer in a zip-top bag and bake from frozen - boom, tasty, flaky, fresh and delicious snacks at your finger tips.
SPANAKOPITA – Greek Spinach & Feta Phyllo Triangles
INGREDIENTS
½ cup (113g) butter, divided
1 box (10 oz) baby spinach
1 pkg (200g) feta cheese, crumbled
2 large eggs
¼ cup finely chopped dill, optional
1 pkg (454g) phyllo pastry
Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Melt 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter in a large pot. Add spinach. Cook, over medium heat, stirring often, until wilted, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer wilted spinach to a bowl. Let cool.
3. Squeeze out excess water from spinach once cool enough to handle. Place spinach on a chopping board. Finely chop.
4. Place spinach back into bowl. Mix in feta cheese, eggs and dill. Mix well to combine.
5. Melt remaining butter in a bowl in the microwave or in a small pot on the stove. Remove phyllo from packaging. Place one sheet of phyllo dough onto a large cutting board. Cover remaining phyllo dough well with a damp tea towel to prevent it from drying out and going flaky. Brush sheet evenly with butter. Top with another sheet of phyllo dough. Brush evenly with butter. Place a third sheet of phyllo dough on top.
6. Using a knife, divide dough into 5 strips width-wise (shorter strips as opposed to lengthways). Place a heaped tsp of filling in the bottom corner of a strip. Fold filling with phyllo in half diagonally to create a triangle. Continue folding into a triangular shape until you reach the end. Brush tops with melted butter. Place on prepared baking sheet. Continue with remaining strips.
7. Repeat process with remaining phyllo dough and filling. Bake, on middle shelf of oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown. If you don’t want to bake them all at once, freeze raw triangles in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake from frozen.
