2011-09-20

Spanakopita – The famous spinach and cheese pie

I think that Spanakopita is the most famous recipe of the Greek Cuisine that you can find anywhere.
 This is a slightly different version with feta cheese and béchamel sauce.


Ingredients

1 package phyllo pastry
5 cups baby spinach leaves
300 gr feta cheese into chunks
1 onion, chopped
3 spring onions finely chopped
1 cup chopped dill
1 cup milk
Olive oil
Salt and pepper


for the béchamel sauce

2 tablespoons flour all purpose
2 tablespoons butter
500 gr warm milk
1 egg
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg



Directions 

Using a skillet sauté the onions with the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the spinach, stir and add dill, salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from fire and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350.
 Using a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter with 1 teaspoon olive oil, let them melt and heat through but don’t let them burn. Add the flour and stir using a wooden spoon.  Once the flour golden reduce heat to medium to low and pour in the warm milk and stir constantly using a whisk.Stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from fire, add the Parmesan cheese and continue stirring. Add the nutmeg and the egg and stir vigorously.
Add the spinach- onions mix to the sauce and finally add the feta cheese. Stir.
Grease with oil a baking pan well and start to Lay the phyllo pastry greasing it one by one with some olive oil (use a cooking brush). Put six phyllo leafs, add the batter with the spinach and sauce and then add on top the other 4 leafs of the phyllo pastry. (Don’t forget to brush them with olive oil one by one).
Fold the pastry to close the pie or cut the pastry pieces that are outside of the pan and keep them  for another use.
Using a knife cut the pieces of the pie, brush the pie with a beaten egg and pour a cup of milk on top of the pie.
Bake the pie in the third tray of the oven for an hour.
Let it cool down before cutting and serving.

Cheers!
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