How to Make Authentic, Traditional Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie)
Spanakopita is a popular, rustic dish worldwide, and is loved by every generation of Greeks. In fact, the recipe for traditional spanakopita is handed down from generation to generation...every family in Greece has a grandmother who learned how to make this dish from her grandma, who learned from her grandma. Below is one of the most common recipes for homemade, traditional spanakopita - which takes a while to prepare, but it is totally worth it.
9 cups of flour (approximately)
1 1/2 cups of water (approximately)
1 cup of olive oil
1lb, 2oz of feta cheese
1 tbsp of salt
3lb, 4.9oz of fresh spinach leaves (if fresh spinach is not available in your area, use the kind that comes in a bag...just don't use frozen spinach)
1/2 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
1/2 stalk of scallion, minced
2 eggs
Important preparation steps: If using fresh spinach leaves, start the night before by cutting off the roots, and wash them really well with fresh water, removing any dirt. Then, place a layer of paper towel on your kitchen counter and spread the washed spinach leaves in an even layer on the paper towel, and let them sit overnight to dry. If using pre-washed, bagged spinach leaves, skip this step. It is important to make sure any spinach you use is properly washed, because spinach is a common source of E. Coli, Salmonella, and other food borne illnesses.
Traditional homemade Spanakopita
After the spinach is properly washed and dried, we begin the recipe by making the phyllo dough. In a big bowl, combine 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of the olive oil, 1 tsp of the salt, and 1/2 cup of the water. Wash your hands very well, and start kneading the mixture, adding more flour and water little by little, as needed, until the dough does not stick to your hands. Set it aside to rest for approximately 30 minutes.
For the spinach filling, put 4 tbsp of the olive oil in a large pan, then add the spinach leaves, scallion, 1/2 tbsp salt and the dill, and mix them together. Cook on medium heat for approximately 10-15 minutes, until the spinach is wilted. When it's done, put it in a large bowl and set it aside to cool until it is slightly warmer than room temperature. Then, crumble the feta cheese and add it to the spinach, along with the 2 eggs and mix it all together. Set the finished bowl of filling aside for now.
On a clean kitchen countertop, sprinkle a little flour and place a snowball sized amount of phyllo dough on the counter to begin rolling it. Using a long rolling dowel, roll each ball of dough flat until they get translucent (or "paper thin"). Each of these thin sheets of dough, are called phylla in Greek. Sprinkle more flour on the dough as needed while you're rolling to prevent it from sticking.
Coat the inside of a large baking dish with olive oil (to cover the surface). Take 5 phylla (the sheets of dough you made above), and brush each one of them with olive oil...then add them to the baking dish one by one, over lapping each other as necessary to cover the surface of the baking dish (bottom and sides). Add a layer of the spinach filling, and then add 5 more oiled phylla, the same you did with the first 5. When you're finished, sprinkle a little water on top of the last phyllo. Bake at 356 degrees (F) for about an hour. When it's done baking, let it cool for at least one hour before you cut it into pieces. Enjoy!
Greek cooking secrets:
If the feta cheese has a rich, salty taste, be careful with the amount of salt that you use. Taste the spinach filling after you remove it from the pan, before you add the feta cheese, and adjust the amount of feta and/or salt you add to the filling as needed to prevent the filling from becoming too salty.
Do not add the eggs to the spinach filling while it is still very hot. Otherwise, you’ll have pieces of boiled egg in your filling.
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1Axpl5V