Spanakopita – Spinach and Feta pie

This traditionally Greek recipe is nothing too different to beautiful Borek but gives a nice pie feeling in the mouth when cooked with puff pastry and is very easy! I changed it a little bit but this recipe comes from my Irish friend (as I recently found out that his lovely Greek girlfriend cheated us saying she cooked it: )

I think the spinach is in season right now and tastes great so I suggest popping into Blackheath Farmer’s market and buying some.

Here we go:

1 pack of Puff pastry
1, 5 or 2 blocks of feta cheese
2 packs of spinach (I used two bunches of spinach bought from the farmers)
3 eggs
Half an onion (I used a whole onion)
Chopped parsley
Chopped dill
Pepper
Sesame seeds (I used black seeds which you can find in Middle Eastern shops)

How do I cook spanakopita?

1. Handful by handful, wash the spinach, leave in water, add some drops of apple cider vinegar  as it kills the left over germs, drain.

2. Finely chop the onion and gently fry it in some butter until it turns
soft, then leave that aside to cool a little, do the same with drained spinach.

3.In a big bowl crumble the feta until it’s all broken up, then add the
three eggs, a handful of chopped parsley, a generous amount of dill, the
fried onion and lots of black pepper. Using your hands, mix it all
together until it’s evenly mixed.

4. Butter your pie dish then cut the puff pastry into two, you have to open it up in the shape of your pie dish. Then add the bottom layer of pastry.

5. Fill the filo with the mixture and spread it out as evenly as possible, then cover with the rest of the pastry. Add some milk to the bowl that contained the feta mixture then brush the liquid over the top of the pie. Finish by sprinkling sesame seeds on top. (or blackseeds)

6. Cook at 180 degrees until the top goes brown, then cover with foil and
cook for a further 20 mins or so.

Like a lot of food it tastes better after it has been cooled and
reheated later : )

Enjoy!