My wife and I love spinach and feta, so spanakopita is a clear winner in our house. This Greek dish is a savory flaky pastry filled with an onion/spinach/feta mixture, and if you haven’t tried it, you are missing out! But never fear…today’s the day to remedy that. If you have tried it, and you’re not missing out, this will hopefully serve as a reminder that it’s about time to eat it again!
Tonight’s meal is a basically a much healthier version of spanakopita because it uses less phyllo dough, low fat feta, and no butter between the dough layers (so it won’t be quite as rich or buttery as what you’d get in a restaurant, but it still highlights the spinach flavour, and it comes with quite a calorie reduction…your call on whether the trade-off is worth it). It is also much easier to serve because you don’t have to worry about cutting through the flaky pastry, as this comes in a convenient personal portion size! Try pairing Greek Steak Kebabs or Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Thighs…or make a bigger version and serve it as an entree!
Time: 50-60 minutes (40-45 or so is cooking time though)
Ingredients: (enough to make 2 rolls)
- Spinach (we are using 1 lb of frozen chopped spinach that has been thawed already for the purposes of this recipe)
- Fat Free crumbled feta
- 1 Egg
- Roughly 1/2 of an onion, diced (go with more if you like…and consider the onion size when making your decision)
- 4 sheets of Phyllo dough (I use the frozen because I have neither the skill nor the patience to make it from scratch)
- Any seasonings you like (black pepper and garlic powder go well in this)
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
- Squeeze the excess water out of the spinach, and then put the spinach in a large bowl
- Mix your diced onion, feta, and any seasonings you are using in the spinach bowl
- Add an egg, and mush everything around by hand (surgical or food grade PVC glove is good to use in this step)
- Place two sheets of phyllo dough on a clean surface. DISCLAIMER: Wrapping this up as described below is a pretty finicky process, so please see the picture of the two Spanikopitas on the tray for an alternative (and much less likely to make you feel the urge to cuss while wrapping) shape.
- Spoon your egg/spinach/feta mix onto your phyllo dough along the long edge, and then give the rest of the uncovered dough a light oil spray.
- Roll everything up as though it were sushi. At this point, it should look like a big spinach filled snake.
- Brush a little water along the top of this spinach snake, and starting from one end, roll it into a pinwheel shape (you may need a little extra water added at the final end to help the dough adhere to itself)
- Place on a foil lined and lightly oiled baking sheet
- Repeat this process for as many rolls as you are making
- Give each a little spray with oil on top, and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- When the dough is golden brown and flaky, pull them from the oven, and let them sit for a minute or two.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
