Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer/Vegetarian
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 12 pieces
 
Spanakopita (spanaki meaning spinach, and pita meaning pie) is a light and crispy rustic Greek pie made with spinach and phyllo.
Ingredients
  • 16 ounces fresh spinach (or prepackaged baby spinach)
  • 6 green onions, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
  • 12 ounces feta cheese
  • 10 ounces cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (drained)
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 package of phyllo dough (I use store bought)
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, for oiling the pan and phyllo sheets
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Wash and thoroughly drain the spinach. Add the chopped green onions and dill and sprinkle with pepper. Crumble the feta into the bowl and add the eggs and cottage cheese (or ricotta cheese). Season lightly with salt and pepper. Blend ingredients well with your hands.
  3. Brush a 9” x 13” baking pan with olive oil. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough on the bottom, leaving a slight overhang on the sides of the pan. Drizzle (very lightly) with olive oil and repeat this phyllo and oil layering until you have used 8-10 sheets of phyllo dough.
  4. Add the filling mixture to the pan and spread evenly. Bring the sheets that were hanging outside of the pan over the filling.
  5. Lay 5 sheets of phyllo dough on top, oiling lightly between layers, repeating the process as done with the bottom layer. Stuff any edges down into the sides of the pans to seal the pie. Brush the top phyllo layer with olive oil.
  6. Before baking, cut the pie into 12 squares, or however big you want your spanakopita pieces. This makes cutting the pie less messy when it gets out of the oven.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the top is golden brown.
  8. Allow the pie to cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Notes
**Feel free to play around with preferred cheese here. If you use one of these alternate cheeses, be sure it's drained well.
Recipe by Eleni Saltas at https://elenisaltas.com/2018/01/03/spanakopita-spinach-pie/