Spinach and Feta Pie

After developing a solid spanakopita recipe, I assumed I was finished with my search for the perfect spinach 'pie'. Much to my dismay, our little one strongly dislikes the crisp, buttery phyllo crust. As soon as it touches her lips, her face gets a sour look and a very serious 'yuck' escapes her mouth. With all the labor it takes constructing a traditional spanakopita, and the fact that my daughter detests the best part, what is the point? On the upside, she loves the spinach filling. I knew it was time to reevaluate my vehicle for spinach. 

Not only is this much faster and easier to prepare than a spanakopita, it celebrates my daughter's favorite element of it. Since the crust is blind baked and not in the constant peril of any excess moisture that phyllo is, you don't have to drain the spinach before cooking! I'll be honest, that is one of my least favorite preps. You dirty a kitchen towel, and its a pain to clean out the little scraps of spinach from the sink (no garbage disposal or dish washer in our house). I even cheated a  bit and used some leftover pie crust I had in the freezer. After an effortless overnight thaw in the fridge, I was ready to go. 

INGREDIENTS

1 lb organic chopped frozen spinach, slightly thawed

1/2 recipe prepared pie dough, or your favorite store bought pie crust

5 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated on a rasp

1/2 tsp kosher salt

pepper to taste

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

zest of 1 medium organic lemon

~6 oz light or full fat feta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350*. Ensure rack is in center of oven. Roll out thawed pie crust on a clean floured surface. Place into a deep pie dish and dock the crust with a fork. Take a large sheet of parchment paper and lay it over the crust. Fill with pie weights or 1 lb of dried beans (beans can't be used for any thing else after they've been used as pie weights). Bake in oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, till the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside. 

While the pie is blind baking, place a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp canola oil. Add the onion and cook till softened and slightly translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the spinach, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the garlic and stir well. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl beat together 4 large eggs with most of the milk till frothy. Add the lemon zest and mix well. By this time the spinach should have cooled down a bit, and is a good time to crumble in the feta. Spoon in the spinach filling into the prepared crust, then pour over the beaten egg and zest mixture. Gently move around the spinach to allow the egg to get well dispersed into the mixture. Lightly beat the last egg with any leftover milk and generously brush the crust with the egg wash. Top entire pie with grated Parmesan. 

Place in oven and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or till the spinach and egg filling puffs up slightly and the cheese begins to brown. Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. I like this pie best room temperature, so its great to bring along for picnics or cook outs.

Spanakopita

I've been craving this dish for a while, and was actually having some trouble finding a recipe that I wanted to try. Most were spanakopita pockets, triangles, or used kale or collards instead of spinach. Although I didn't look too hard, I didn't come across the traditional recipe I was looking for. So I ended up just using the flavors that were in some of my favorite spanakopitas I've had in the past.

Growing up in the Chicagoland area, I've been to my fair share of Greek restaurants, and have had many, many versions of this dish. To no surprise, there wasn't much variation, which I never had any problems with. I did mix things up slightly by using 2 kinds of feta, which added a little diversity in flavor and texture, while keeping it from being too salty, since the French style feta is creamier and not as salty as the Greek. Lots of lemon zest and fresh dill kept this dish from tasting too heavy or one note. This is very easy to make, yet a bit on the labor intensive side. Definitely a weekend thing, but it makes so much you'll get to enjoy it for the rest of the week. It does taste the best the first day, when the phyllo is crisp and crackly. The best way to reheat this is in a toaster oven, since that freshens up the integrity of the crust. But if you don't mind not having a crunchy crust, nuking it is just fine. There is lots of butter used, so even if the texture isn't there, the flavor was so good I didn't mind giving up the crispness.

INGREDIENTS                                                                 

2 lbs frozen organic spinach, thawed and with most 
   of the moisture squeezed out
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
~6-8 oz Greek feta
~6-8 oz French sheep's milk feta
1 egg, lightly beaten
zest of 1 organic lemon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup lightly chopped fresh dill, or 2 Tbsp dry
salt and pepper
1 16 oz package frozen phyllo dough, thawed    
   overnight in fridge
12 Tbsp melted and cooled butter or extra-virgin   
   olive oil spray (I prefer the taste and richness
   that butter provides, but I've also used a 
   combination of the two in the same dish)

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring often till translucent; about 6 - 8 minutes. Add the squeezed out spinach and cook for another 6 - 8 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer the cooked spinach to a large bowl to cool.

Melt the butter. Add the garlic, nutmeg, lemon zest, and dill to the beaten egg and mix well. Once the spinach is cooled down to nearly room temp, add the egg to it and mix very well. Crumble in the 2 fetas and mix well. 

Preheat oven to 350*. Generously butter (or spray) a 9 - 13 (or there about) dish. Open one of the packages of phyllo, leaving the other in the fridge. Lay down a sheet of wax or parchment paper and unroll the phyllo onto it, immediately covering it with a clean kitchen towel. Lay down one sheet of phyllo and spatter the butter over it with a pastry brush, then gently brush the butter evenly over the bottom and edges (or spray evenly with oil). After each sheet of phyllo is removed from the stack, immediately cover with the towel. Repeat this process till you have 12-15 layers of phyllo*. If the dough splits or cracks as you work, pay no mind. There are so many layers that it doesn't make a difference.

 Add 1/3 of the spinach mixture, then top with 5 more layers of phyllo, ensuring to butter/oil in between each layer of dough. If you've used up your first roll of dough by this point, remove the other roll of phyllo from the fridge and lay it out in the same manner, ensuring it is covered after every sheet you use. Repeat this till all the spinach is layered. Top the last of the spinach with 15 sheets of phyllo*, with butter or oil spread evenly between each sheet. Top with the remaining butter/oil, then score the top with a very sharp knife into the size of slices you will want, ensuring you go through nearly all the top layers of phyllo. Do not skip this step - I forgot to do this the first round of making it, and when I cut into it the phyllo cracked apart so badly the top crust was almost completely shattered.

Ensure an oven rack is placed in the center of the oven, and pop in your beautiful spinach pie that you worked so hard on. Bake for ~60 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

*By the time I hit about 10 sheets of phyllo, I started to get a bit ornery. If you have the gusto, by all means, use 15; it really makes for a flavorful and crackly crunchy crust. But if you don't have it in you, and don't mind tossing some of the leftover phyllo, layering the minimum 10 works great too.