Greek Spinach Pie (Spanakopita)
There are many types of spinach pie - spanakopita - in Greece. This one is the classical spinach pie and can be eaten as a side dish or is a very tasty and nutritious snack by it self. The recipe shows how you can make the filo pastry yourself - it's always tastier than the ready-made stuff.
Total Steps
30
Ingredients
11
Tools Needed
8
Related Article
http://stuff2eat.blogspot.com/2010/01/fruit.htmlIngredients
- 300 gram all purpose flour
- 40 milliliter olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ouzo
- salt
- spring onions
- water
- spinach
- mint
- aniseed
- feta cheese
- egg wash
Instructions
Step 1
Place all the dough ingredients (all purpose flour, olive oil, ouzo, and salt) in a bowl and knead well.
Step 2
Divide the dough into 6 balls of equal size.
Step 3
Cover the dough balls with cling film and let them rest on a lightly floured surface.
Step 4
Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
Step 5
Finely chop the spring onions and put them in a pan with water.
Step 6
Finely chop the spinach and add it to the pan.
Step 7
Add the mint, aniseed, and a little salt to the pan.
Step 8
Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring well.
Step 9
Remove from the heat and put the mixture in a colander to drain well.
Step 10
Press the mixture with a spoon to remove as much liquid as possible.
Step 11
Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
Step 12
Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the mixture along with olive oil.
Step 13
Stir the filling and then set it aside.
Step 14
Once the dough has rested, take 3 of the balls and, using a wooden rolling pin, open them into flat circles 15 cm in diameter.
Step 15
Lightly brush the first 'filo' with olive oil and place the second one on top of it.
Step 16
Lightly brush this one with olive oil and then place the third filo on top.
Step 17
Sprinkle flour on top of the stacked filo sheets.
Step 18
With a rolling pin, open out the dough with the 3 filos until you have a large circle enough to fill a medium size oven dish and cover its edge.
Step 19
Brush the oven dish with olive oil and place the dough in it, covering the edge.
Step 20
Take another ball of dough and with a little flour and the use of the rolling pin, open it out into a circle which is the same size as the oven dish, but not including the edge.
Step 21
Place this layer in the oven dish on top of the first layer.
Step 22
Spread the filling evenly on top of these layers.
Step 23
Take another ball of dough and again open it out to the size of the oven dish.
Step 24
Place it on top of the filling and brush with olive oil.
Step 25
Take the final ball of dough and open it out to the size of the oven dish plus enough to cover the edge.
Step 26
Place it on top of the others and join the extra at the edge with the edge from the bottom layer, using olive oil so that the edge of the whole pie is nicely sealed.
Step 27
Brush the top of the pie with olive oil.
Step 28
Lightly cut the whole pie into square portions, but without cutting down to the bottom.
Step 29
Brush the pie with the egg wash.
Step 30
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius until it has a nice golden brown colour.