Flaky, buttery, exotic and delicious. The key ingredient: phyllo dough. The good news is that you can find phyllo dough in your local market in the frozen section near desserts. The even better news is that phyllo dough is easy to work with and yields delicious results with minimal effort. There are a few things to keep in mind that will ensure success: make sure dough is completely defrosted before you begin working with it and keep a damp towel on hand to cover unused portions so the sheets don’t dry out. Most packages separate the phyllo dough into two portions. For this recipe we will use the entire box with one half on the bottom and the other on top.
If you do have an ethnic market nearby, set a time to venture in. You will find a lot of popular ingredients that are pricy at local markets to be sold in bulk and fractions of the cost. For example, 2 lbs. of Bulgarian feta cheese usually run around $10.
Ingredients:
1 package Phyllo Dough sheets
1 lb. melted butter
3 10 oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of access juices
1 lb. feta cheese crumbled
3 leeks, chopped, washed and sautéed until wilted
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg,
dill, chopped if fresh or 1 tablespoon dried,
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine the spinach, feta cheese, leeks, eggs, nutmeg, dill, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
To assemble the spanikopita brush the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass dish with two tablespoons melted butter. Put 10 sheets on top. Brush with two tablespoons of butter. Continue until the first half of the phyllo dough is used.
Evenly spread the spinach mixture.
Working with the second half of the phyllo dough, put 10 sheets on top of the spinach mixture. Spread with 2 tablespoons butter and continue until all the sheets are used.
Super important! Before applying butter on top, pre cut the spanikopita with a sharp knife to desired servings sizes (12-16)….THEN, pour the rest of the butter on top. The final butter will seep in the cracks and ensure a crispy bottom!
Bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. My mom always knew when it was about done when her kitchen smelled of buttery goodness!
That looks fabulously delicious! And guess what? I have phyllo in the fridge right now! I guess I'm off to get feta, spinach & leeks!
ReplyDeleteSeriously! I cannot wait to try this!!! (note again the 3 exclaimations to tell of my enthusiasm) I am making my grocery list right now!!! YUMMM!
ReplyDeleteI just made this heavenly creation yesterday! It was FABULOUS!!! It was all the buttery goodness I had hoped for. I shared with 3 of my neighbors, just to help solidify friendships. :) This was easy to make and my 3 yr old even liked "helping paint" the butter on and "spank" the spinach mix into place. We decided to continue calling this "Spank-a-pita".
ReplyDeleteThe only comment I can make is that I may try with less butter on the top next time. The bottom was so buttery that it was dripping down my chin as I ate it. Or I can just borrow on eof Brock's bibs. Hmmm....
You girls ROCK! As always, thanks for sharing.