SPANOKOPITA

Today something Greek. With all of the amazing food you can eat in Greece, tomatoes, fish, lamb! I have to say that I think spanokopita is truly an act of culinary genius and one of my favourite treats. There really is no better way to eat spinach.

What made me think of Greece was the sparkling and sunny weather in Amsterdam yesterday. Naturally my Greek daydreaming led me to something food related, and an overwhelming desire to make spanokopita, (sun + Martina's daydreaming = cooking). It all fit in perfectly as I was going to have guests over and thought, what could be a better way to greet them than with a salty, crunchy and creamy snack? A snack that was actually somewhat healthy with all the spinach stuffed inside, (delusion is a wonderful thing).

Having never made this before I turned to the internet for help and found Martha Stewart's version of spanokopita, it looked promising, it also said quick... a good sign! With a few tweaks here and there, notably the omission of dill, the addition of plenty of carmelized onions and ricotta to cut the feta saltiness, I think it turned out delicious. It was all rather easy, maybe not as quick as Martha would state but definitely worth the effort.

Spanokopita 

16 small pieces

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced and sauteed
1 garlic clove, minced
450 grams baby spinach
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
200 grams feta, crumbled

150 grams ricotta
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tsp of lemon rind
9 sheets phyllo dough thawed
100 grams butter, melted

1/3 cup of veg oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add garlic cook, stirring for 1 minute.

Cook spinach until it is wilted, after it is cooled squeeze the remaining water from it and chop it up coarsely. Transfer it to a bowl. Stir in egg, herbs, crumbled feta, ricotta, lemon rind, salt, and pepper. This makes a delicious green mash.

Melt the butter and add vegetable oil to it. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with butter and oil mixture. Repeat 4 times. Spread spinach mixture on center. Top with 5 more buttered sheets. Fold in sides like an envelope. Bake until dark golden, about 40 minutes.