Spanakopita

Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie) is one of the most popular Greek dishes that is known and loved around the world. This is a very versatile and delicious Greek dish equally suitable for all occasions and is very popular on the mezze menu (a small selection of small dishes, often served at the beginning of multi-course meals in Greece), or on the antipasto platter typically served in Italy.

The spanakopita is typically rolled into individual triangular pies. The main ingredient is of course spinach but a lot of recipes also use feta cheese which is a favourite ingredient in all types of Greek recipes.

The filling:
45 ml/3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
60 ml/¼ cup  olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.2 kg/2.6 lbs young Swiss chard, stripped leaves only (discard stalks)
30 ml/ 2 tablespoons chopped dill
125 g/4.4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
50 g/1.7 oz full-fat ricotta cheese
45 ml/3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 ml/½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

12 sheets filo pastry
120 g/4.2 oz butter, melted

• Cook the pine nuts in a dry, medium sauté pan, over low heat, for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove and set aside.
• Heat the oil in the pan over medium-low heat, then add the onion, spring onions and garlic and cook for 1 minute until softened.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Fill a saucepan half full with water and bring to the boil.  Add some salt and add the Swiss chard.  Cook the chard for about 2 minutes then drain and drop in a bowl of ice water.  (You may have to do this in batches).
• Drain again, squeezing out as much water as possible, then spread out on a clean tea towel.
• Add the Swiss chard to a food processor with all the other ingredients except the filo pastry and melted butter.
• Pulse until everything is reasonably fine but still with some texture.  Set aside until ready to use.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F.
• Unroll the filo dough on a flat surface and using a sharp knife, cut the filo into 7.5 x 28 cm/3 x 11 in strips
• Take one strip and cover the rest again with a damp towel. With a pastry brush, brush a strip of filo with melted butter.
• Place a small spoonful of Swiss chard filling 2.5 cm/1 in from the end of the pastry.
• Fold the end over the filling to form a triangle, then continue to fold up the strip in triangles.
• Continue with remaining strips of dough, placing filled triangles on the baking sheet and keeping them covered with a towel until all are ready to go into the oven.
• Brush the triangles lightly with the butter, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Serve hot.

These may be frozen before baking, putting waxed paper between layers of triangles to keep them from sticking. It is not necessary to defrost the triangles for baking, just bake them for an extra 10 minutes.