Greek Spinach Pie

Many people are very intimidated to cook with phyllo dough and think making a dish like this is for experts. That is fundamentally untrue. Our instructions are precise and once you give it a try, you will find it so delicious and not nearly as difficult as you had thought. In fact, it will likely become one of your favorites when you want a dish that makes a large quantity so you can freeze some for later.

Lunch Dinner Vegetarian

Serving size

1/12 pie

Makes

12 servings

Prep time: 30min
Cook time: 40min
Total: 1hr 10min

Ingredients

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium (110g) onion, diced

30-ounces spinach, 3 (10-ounces) packages frozen, chopped

4 medium eggs, beaten

4-ounces feta cheese

½ bunch dill, chopped

½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

12 sheets (or 325g) phyllo dough, thawed

 

Special Equipment:

Pastry brush

Nutrition Info

Makes: 12 servings  Serving size: 1/12 pie

What Does This Mean For Me?

Calories

284

Fat

20 g

Saturated Fat

6 g

Trans Fat

<1 g

Cholesterol

73 mg

Carbohydrate

21 g

Sugar

2 g

Fiber

3 g

Protein

9 g

Sodium

308 mg

Calcium

174 mg

Phosphorus

97 mg

Potassium

255 mg

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, reduce the heat and cook until translucent.
  3. Squeeze the excess moisture from the spinach.
  4. Combine cooked onion, spinach and eggs in a large bowl. Crumble the feta cheese into the bowl.
  5. Add the dill to the spinach mixture and mix well. Season with pepper.
  6. Heat remaining ½ cup oil with the butter until melted in a small saucepan.
  7. Paint a layer of oil/butter mixture over the bottom of a baking dish with pastry brush.
  8. Unroll the phyllo gently and spread on a cutting board. Remove one sheet and cover the balance of stretched-out phyllo with a slightly damp cloth so it will not dry out.
  9. Place sheet of dough on the dish and paint dough with the butter/oil mixture once again. Repeat 5 more times, layering each sheet on top of the others.
  10. Spread the spinach/cheese mixture over the top of the dough layers, taking care to spread it evenly.
  11. Repeat step 9 on top of the spinach/cheese mixture, until you use the rest of the dough.
  12. Cut through top layers of dough with a large knife, forming 12 even squares.
  13. Bake for about 45 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.
  14. Remove from the oven and cut through the pre-scored slices so the squares can easily be lifted out with a spatula.
Recipe contributed by FamilyCook Productions

Keep the towel that you are using to cover the phyllo dough slightly damp but not very wet, as you work with each individual phyllo sheet. This keeps the dough easy to work with. If it becomes too dry or soggy, it will rip apart when you pick up each sheet to place on the pie.