Spanakopita Armenian Style Recipes

SPANAKOPITA, ARMENIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350Squeeze thawed spinach until most of liquid is removed.
• Melt two tablespoons of butter in saute pan. Saute chopped scallions. Add chopped dill and black pepper.
• Add spinach and stir, allowing liquid to evaporate, but don't brown.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• Meanwhile, crumble feta in a bowl and add egg. Stir.
• Add spinach mixture to cheese mixture and mix.
• Melt one stick of butter and carefully scrape off foam from the top. Pour off liquid butter leaving residue in the bottom of pan. This is clarified butter, or ghee.
• Lay out filo dough and cover with a damp cloth or paper towels and cover with a dry towel, when not in use to keep filo from drying out.
• If you want small triangles for an appetizer, cut filo in two equal rectangles and stack. Cover with damp towels.
• Take one sheet of filo and place on wax paper, shorter side closer to you.
• Brush with melted clarified butter.
• Place a spoonful of filling two inches from the bottom and slightly to the right of center.
• Fold right side over filling, and left side over right, making a long strip, approximately 3 inches wide, with filling on the right side of folded strip. This will make it easier to fold triangle without breaking filo.
• Brush with melted butter.
• Fold bottom two inches up, over filling and press gently. Fold filo diagonally up from left point of bottom. Fold again straight up, creating triangle. Continue folding in this manner, diagonally and straight until you have a perfect triangle.
• Place all triangles on a cookie sheet brushed with melted butter.
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until light golden brown.

SPANOKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the scallions. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the scallions, dill, eggs, feta, salt, and pepper and mix together.
• Keep the phyllo dough sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel. Unfold 1 sheet of the phyllo dough. Brush the sheet with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Repeat the process by laying a second sheet of phyllo dough over the first sheet, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs until all 10 sheets have been used. Spoon 3/4 cup of the spinach mixture into a sausage shape along one edge of the phyllo dough. Roll it up. Brush the top with butter and score the roll into 1-inch rounds. Place it on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all the pastry and filling have been used.
• Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Serve warm.

SPANAKOPITA (GREEK SPINACH PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
• Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.

DEEP DISH SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Defrost the spinach and phyllo dough in the fridge overnight.
• For the filling, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened and lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parsley, dill, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and lemon zest. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Drain the spinach through a strainer lined with a clean kitchen towel or a few layers of sturdy paper towel. Gather the spinach up in the towel and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Transfer to a bowl and add the lemon juice and feta. Stir in the cooled onion mixture and the egg.
• Retrieve the phyllo from the fridge, unroll it and cover it with a clean kitchen towel to keep it from drying out. Place a 9-inch springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet and brush the bottom and sides lightly with butter. Lay out one sheet of phyllo, brush with butter and transfer it to the prepared pan. There is no need to be extra careful here - the phyllo might tear, crack or rumple up a bit but that just makes for more texture in the end result. Layer on two more buttered sheets of phyllo across the bottom of the pan.
• Continue buttering the phyllo as before but begin placing the remaining sheets off-center around the pan so that their edges overlap in the center of the base and the other edge hangs over the sides, gently pressing along the bottom and up the sides to create a crust. Transfer the spinach filling into the phyllo crust and spread into an even layer.
• Gather and fold the overhanging phyllo overtop of the edges of the spinach, leaving the center bit of spinach exposed. Brush the phyllo with remaining butter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan and serving.