Happy New Year with a Spanakopita Recipe

Hey Foodies!

Things got a little busy this year over the holidays so I had to take a hiatus and lay my blog down for a long winter's nap.
I know it's still January, but the days are getting longer and I'm getting bored with my quasi post-Christmas cleanse.  So let's be bad and make some tasty food!

Spanakopita Recipe

Makes approx.  24 regular sized pies or 48 little appy sized pies

Ingredients:

- 2 large yellow onions diced
- 3-4 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 large bag of cleaned spinach (1.13kg)
- 1 kg of feta drained and crumbled
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp of dry dill
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp of dry mint
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 bunch of green onions finely chopped
- 1 cup of butter melted
- 2 packages of filo pastry

Directions for the mixture:

Start by caramelizing the yellow onion with the olive oil in a large pot on high heat, stirring frequently.  Once the onions are well browned and aromatic, add the spinach one handful at a time stirring each time so that each handful of spinach wilts into the onions before adding the next one.  Once all the spinach has been added, remove from heat and pour the spinach and onions into a strainer and let the water drain for about 15 minutes.  Give a couple of turns with a spoon throughout to speed up the cooling.  When it has stopped steaming, add the feta, dill, mint, salt, and mix thoroughly.  Then add the eggs and green onions and mix again.  This mixture can be made beforehand and will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Folding the Pie: 

Set the oven to 400'F if you want to bake right away

Have everything at the ready before you begin.  Filo pastry has a tight window of workability.
- Butter with pastry brush
- Large baking sheet
- Lots of counter space

Unroll and lay out the filo pastry.  Peel off one sheet and lay it on the counter with the longest part of the sheet running 12 to 6.  Brush it lightly and with a dinner spoon, place about 4 spoonfuls of filling an inch from the top of the sheet  and in the center.  Fold the top over.  Then fold the sides over meeting at the middle of the filling.  Brush again and fold the filling part over and over towards you to form a rectangle shaped pie.

Repeat this until you run out of filling or filo. 

Place each one on a baking sheet and bake for 25 min. or store in the refrigerator covered in plastic and cook them to order.  Or wrap them individually in a container and freeze them.

To make little ones, cut the filo with a sharp knife through the middle from 9 to 3.  This will give you small versions of a full sheet of filo keeping the same shape.  And use half the amout of filling.  The folding process is the same.

With Love,

Theo