This is the best Spanakopita recipe! If you love Greek Spinach Pie you will love this! It will not disappoint, trust me! I am going to warn you it is kind of a bi*ch to make! Mainly the folding of the phyllo or as I like to refer to it as Fuc*ing Phyllo because I say the F word a million times while making these while working with the phyllo dough! When I make these I make a huge batch because I hate making them and I might as well make a shit ton while I am at it, that way I can share them with my family. Once they are done, I am so glad I made them because they are AMAZING and so worth it! I. Promise.
These make large and in charge size triangles they are BIG. If you prefer smaller ones just cut 4 strips in your phyllo dough instead of 3 and use less of the spinach mixture per triangle.
I have wow'd guests who are tough critics and were born and raised in Greece with this recipe. It's the real deal and so delish!
Ingredients:
4 - 10 oz Packages of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
2 - Bunched of Scallions (chopped)
1 - 12 oz Container of Crumbled Feta Cheese
1 - 12 oz Container of Large Curd Cottage Cheese
1 Cup Olive Oil
3 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Chopped Dill Weed
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 - 16 oz Packages of Phyllo Dough (thawed) - I use Apollo extra thick 2-4 Sticks of Melted Butter
Here is the easy part:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the thawed spinach to a strainer in your sink one package at a time and push on it with some paper towels to squeeze any remaining liquid out. Repeat this step for all 4 packages of spinach. Add spinach to large mixing bowl. Chop the Scallions and add to the same bowl. Add the Feta, Cottage Cheese, Olive oil, Eggs (lightly scrambled), Dill, Salt and Pepper to the bowl and combine all the ingredients mixing well. Line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil and set aside.
Now comes the hard part. You may want to pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage as it may make this part go a bit smoother.
Pro tip: Google how to fold spanakopita on YouTube and watch a video or two till you get the jist. Thaw your phyllo in the fridge and keep it in there until your ready to work with it, I learned that the hard way. Remember... Fu*king Phyllo, Fu*king Phyllo :) If you don't say the F word, I can assure you - you will while making this! Don't stress if more than one layer sticks together or it rips just go with it and do your best.
Spread thawed phyllo dough out on your counter top. Cut vertically into three sections, making 3 strips that are all the same size. Melt your butter in the microwave. I use a shit ton of butter (I know...) I melt 2 sticks at a time and keep melting more as needed until i'm done of the spinach filling. Spread a generous amount of melted butter using a cooking brush to one strip, spoon a generous amount (I use a lot! A heaping large spoon full) onto the bottom of the strip of phyllo. As I recommended YouTube how to fold Spinach pies and use that technique to fold these bad boys. Once you have folded a triangle with one strip of phyllo dough repeat the brushing butter between each layer of phyllo and folding into triangles steps 3 times (I use 3 layers of phyllo per triangle, buttering each layer before folding into a triangle) if using extra thick phyllo per spinach pie triangle.
Repeat these steps until all the spinach mixture is gone. You may have extra phyllo I typically use 1.5/2 boxes. If you forgot how many layers of phyllo you use while making a pie don't stress it just add one more just incase.
Line the triangles on your foiled cookie sheets, Brush the tops with more butter, I KNOW... and bake at 350 for 45 mins to an hour or until done.
They should be golden brown and flaky. Allow to cool a bit and serve.
I forgot to add the scallions in my pretty picture of ingredients... oops #HotMessExpressMom moment. So here it is...
Fu*king Phyllo...
YUM!