my first spanakopita

I'm always looking to try a new recipe around the holidays or when I'll have family over for a big meal. This year I decided I wanted to try making spanakopita, which is Greek spinach pie.  I likely wouldn't have ever attempted making this; however, a coworker recently made it for a potluck we had at work before Christmas.   The filo pastry was flaky and buttery, the filling was rich, and overall it was just SO DELICIOUS!!!

I started searching for recipes since my coworker was on vacation and I couldn't ask for hers. (Actually, it's her grandmother's recipe.) I wanted THE authentic Greek recipe--I often agonize over this aspect when searching out a recipe and it drives me nuts--however, I quickly realized that there are so many recipes and they all purport to be "traditional" or "authentic." But like any other recipe, there are always variations and it all depends on how YOU make it. That's what makes it traditional or authentic to YOU and your family. I noticed that the difference the various recipes was the herb mix. Some used parsley only, others were a mix of parsley and dill, and others had parsley and mint. Measurements were all over the place. I found a few that called for a "bunch" of parsley and/or dill (that is A LOT of dill!), while others called for 1/2 a cup of parsley and 2 tablespoons of dill or mint. It was really frustrating to figure out which one I should use in order to get similar results to the one my coworker made. (I later found out that she used parsley only, though her mom and grandmother use parsley and fresh mint.)

I decided on this one since it seemed pretty easy, plus I didn't have to buy a bunch of special ingredients. Overall it was pretty easy, but I have to say that working with filo dough is tedious and tricky, and you have to work quickly otherwise the dough dries out before it can even make it to the pan. I used tips I found during my recipe search:  lay the dough out on a cookie sheet, cover it with a damp paper towel, cover that with plastic wrap, and work quickly!  This worked pretty well. My only issue was pulling the first piece of dough off the pile. It didn't want to come apart and it tore easily; however, it was going on the bottom of the pan so it didn't matter what it looked like. I made it through the next nine layers easily (there are 10 on the bottom, then the filling, and then another 10 layers of dough), brushing on lots of melted butter as I went along. The other trouble spot was separating the second to last piece from the last piece, and I wasn't able to save that one. Filo dough is paper-thin, though, and doesn't puff up, so I didn't notice that the finished baked product had 19 layers of dough rather than 20. Yes, spanakopita has 20 layers of filo dough!

I made the filling before pulling the dough out of the fridge. This ensures that the dough is fresh and everything is ready to go once you open the package. As I said, it dries out FAST, so you need to have everything ready before assembly. After I finished the painstaking work of layering the dough sheets, then the filling, then the remaining dough sheets, I cut it into 15 large pieces--this makes it much easier to portion out after baking.  I then baked it for about an hour and voila!

I waited until it cooled down a bit before trying it. OMG it was awesome! Rich, buttery and cheesy. My only complaint, which really isn't a complaint, is that the filling was very chunky. The one my coworker made had a very fine filling--I couldn't even tell there was feta cheese in it since it was chopped and blended so well. If I make this again, I will make sure to crumble up the feta more and put the spinach through a food processor. Even though the spinach was pre-chopped, it was a little stringy. I wish I'd thought about the food processor when I mixed everything and saw it was chunky.

It's safe to say I blew through this whole pan in a matter of days, all by myself; I basically ate it for every meal for three to four days. I just popped it into the toaster oven at 400 F for about 12 minutes.I should add that I ended up NOT making this for the family's annual "Christmas in January." The crappy weather that weekend prevented half the family from travelling. It worked out, though--more for me!! (Sorry, guys!)

Here's the finished product. Look at all that yummy feta and cottage cheese!  And here's the recipe:  Spanakopita. One change I made is to bake it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, rather than baking it in a casserole dish or baking pan. The filling really doesn't ooze out since feta doesn't melt all that much, and I found this method worked well for me.