A Greek Feast with Spanakopita
Another Christmas in Chicago. We celebrated our third one here with good friends, mimosas and some damn fine Greek food.
Kinda a no-brainer, seeing how my culinary co-captain Simon is half Greek (there’s generations of Mediterranean cooking in his blood – which he’ll tell you ALL about, go on, just ask).
I planned on getting all traditional with Spanakopita – a cheese and spinach pie – until Simon clued me in the day before Christmas Eve.
“Um, it took my grandmother HOURS to make her Spanakopita,” he said. “She’d use DOZENS of Filo dough sheets and butter every single one. Do you really feel like doing all that?”
Actually, no. I have mimosas to drink. That’s a good point you have there.
A quick call to Simon’s dad Kevork and we had the solution: “Eh. Why do it the hard way? I use puff pastry and it comes out just as good, takes a third of the time.”
Hey, with Kevork’s blessing I was down for a guilt-free shortcut. A simple dish flavored with dill, lemon and parsley, the puff pastry trick let me get these babies oven-ready in just about an hour.
Simon impressed us all with his Moussaka – a fried potato and eggplant casserole baked in a homemade tomato sauce and covered in rich Béchamel. He also rocked out some garlicky Skordalia, Greek green beans, and sun-dried tomato hummus.
We also made room on our plates for Brock’s lemony, olive oil-drenched Greek potatoes, Jared’s Orzo salad and Meg’s signature hummus. Opa!
Thanks everyone for reading, and happy New Year!
Spanakopita – Greek Cheese and Spinach Pie
Why make it the hard way when puff pastry is fast and full of flaky, buttery goodness? ‘Nuff said.
1 pkg. frozen puff pastry sheets
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach
8 oz. feta cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of one lemon
½ cup chopped dill
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp olive oil
1. Defrost the puff pastry following the package directions, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sauté the garlic in olive oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
2. Cook the frozen spinach following the package directions. Here’s the important part: make sure you squeeze out as much water as possible from the cooked spinach. I wrapped mine in cheese cloth and squeezed it for several minutes until it was just barely dripping any water. According to Kevork, a wet filling will leave you with soggy Spanakopita.
3. In a large bowl, mix the feta, spinach, garlic, dill, parsley and lemon juice. Taste and add more herbs if needed (you want the filling to taste very dilly).
4. Once you’ve got the filling to your liking, mix in the egg.
5. Lay out the puff pastry on a lightly floured baking sheet. Spoon the filling into the middle and spread it out over the dough evenly with the back of the spoon. Fold gently in half.
6. Seal the pastry by dipping your finger in water and lightly pinching shut all the open ends.
7. Pop it into the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or so, or until the dough is golden brown.
8. Let your spanakopita cool for about 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Serves 4
