Spinach Pita
You’ve probably had Spanakopita at least once in your life. If not, you’re in for a treat with this traditional flaky Greek dish. While this version was submitted by Mrs. Andreopolis, my grandmother made a ton of changes.
Servings
Depends on how you serve and slice
Ready In:
Prep time
45 minutes in oven
Good For:
Vegetarian entrée
Appetizer
Side Dish
Snack
Bite sized party food
About this Recipe
This recipe has lots of notes, so for my first cook through, I made it following my grandmother’s notes. With her changes, the recipe is basically just Feta cheese and spinach with some eggs to bind. This is how I was raised eating it; I know that some people are familiar with Spanakopita as an eggy dish. It should not taste, look, or feel eggy in my opinion.
- 1/2 lb fila
- 3 eggs
- 2 lbs spinach
washed and strained well, and finely chopped. Allow to strain 3-4 hours. - 3/4 lb Greek cheese (white)
- 2 medium onions chopped very fine and cooked in a little olive oil
- Few parsley leaves chopped fine
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter (melted)
Bold ingredients listed on original ingredient list. Italicized found in handwritten notes. Others found in recipe text.
Wash, cut and drain spinach as above. Cook onions in very little olive oil until soft. Add to spinach, (beat eggs and add.) Add cheese, parsley leaves and olive oil. Mix well.
Grease pan 10 x 15″ approx. with butter and place 4 fila in pan for bottom layer, buttering each filo. Pour in spinach mixture and cover with 4 more fila, buttering each filo as above. Turn in edges to retain mixture. Puncture air holes in top layers with a fork to aid in baking.
Bake in 350° oven for approximately 45 minutes.
Mrs. Andreopolis
Strikethrough ingredients and directions were crossed out by my grandmother and included only for people who can’t see the image. If an ingredient or step was changed, but still included, I only listed the final version. Let me know if the strikethroughs are too annoying.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Mise en Place (prepare ingredients for cooking). In this recipe, the mise en place is all listed in the ingredient list. I included that to be faithful to the printed page. Pre-heat oven to 350°. Wash and strain spinach, and then finely chop only if not using a food processor. Melt unsalted butter and let cool slightly as you mix spinach filling.
Step 2
Mix eggs with spinach. Lightly beat eggs and add them to the spinach. If you are using a food processor, then throw the spinach and egg in and wither do a quick chop. Otherwise, add finely chopped spinach to large bowl with eggs and mix well.
Step 3
Add Feta Cheese. If you are using a food processor, then throw the spinach mixture and cheese in, and lightly chop just until mixed. Otherwise, crumble Feta into your bowl with spinach and mix well.
Step 4
Grease Pan. Brush butter on bottom and all sides of 10″ x 15″ cake pan or whatever size baking dish you have.
Step 5
Layer Filo and Filling. Place four fila in pan for bottom layer, brushing butter onto each filo separately. If your pan is larger than your filo, you will have to overlap. Each layer should be four layers thick. Turn in edges slightly to retain mixture. Scoop in spinach mixture so that it is a thin layer completely covering filo. Cover with four more fila, buttering each filo separately as you lay it. Repeat the layers until you use all of the spinach mixture (6-8 layers). The final layer should be buttered filo.
Step 6
Bake for 45 minutes. Puncture air holes in top layer of filo with a fork. Bake in oven at 350° for 45 minutes. Spinach Peta should be flaky and light golden brown.
Step 6
Cut and Serve. Cut into desired portion size and serve warm.
Tips and Thoughts
Working with Filo. Whether you choose to make the filo from scratch or buy it in leaves, you must keep it moist without getting it wet. Make sure your hands are dry. Cover unrolled phyllo with wax paper and then a moist towel. Remove one sheet at a time and cover remaining.
Make phyllo pockets. I usually skip the baking dish and simply make spinach triangles, which are easy to serve at a party and to freeze. Simply put a heaping tablespoon of filling onto 3-4 layers of phyllo and roll into a triangle. Brush with butter to seal. Then brush completely with butter before baking for 15 minutes.
Torn Phyllo. If your leaves tear while making the pie, that is fine, just keep layering. Make sure you save a couple really nice pieces for the top to create a nice looking crust.
Frozen Spinach. If you use frozen spinach, thaw and press it for 2-3 hours to reduce the amount of moisture. If you don’t have hours, give all your spinach, fresh or frozen, a good 30 minutes to dry while you prep other ingrediants.
More Recipes
Garlic Sauce
Commonly called Skordalia, this recipe is for a garlic potato sauce or dip. I did this one a little backwards as I needed a sauce for a dinner party. I started with a more modern version and techniques, but will go back and cook traditionally some day.
Filo Dough
Commonly used in Greek favorites Baklava and Spanakopita, phyllo is much easier to work with than most people imagine. It is not all that easy to roll perfectly thin tho.
Meat Balls
My grandmother included notes about not using mint leaves, substituting garlic salt and oregano instead. There are a few “staple” ingredients not listed in the ingredient list, which makes me wonder how common that will be in the cookbook. This recipe is not attributed to anyone.
Thx!