1 minute read
Spanakopita
Mom discovered phyllo dough long before most people knew what it was, and she loved to cook with it. Sometime in probably the late 70s or early 80s, she picked up a recipe leaflet put out by the Apollo Strudel Leaves Company. It contains recipes for all kinds of things that use phyllo and promises “Easily made by anyone.” Ha! Working with phyllo dough takes some advance knowledge so you know what to expect. THEN it’s easy. No fools, the writers of this pamphlet—they also caution “Read directions before using.” Mom was already a pro by then, so she probably skipped the directions and instead used this leaflet as a jumping off point to design her ideal baklava… and this spanakopita.
INGREDIENTS 1 lb phyllo dough, defrosted completely 1 lb feta cheese, crumbled 1 lb cottage cheese 1 bunch fresh scallions, chopped 2 medium onions 1 c olive oil, divided ¼ lb butter 2 bags frozen spinach 3 eggs 1 t dill ½ c bread crumbs
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DIRECTIONS Defrost frozen spinach, rinse and squeeze it well to get out as much water as possible. Brown chopped onions and scallions in ½ c olive oil; let cool. Mix cottage and feta cheese in a large bowl with spinach, onions, eggs, dill and bread crumbs. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt together olive oil and butter. Let cool.
Open phyllo dough and unroll. It’s ok if it tears a little. Cover completely with waxed paper and a damp dish towel so the dough doesn’t dry out.
Preheat oven to 350⁰. With a pastry brush, grease a 9” x 13” dish with the butter mixture. Lay over a sheet of phyllo. Use pastry brush to brush butter all over. Repeat with 4 more sheets of phyllo, covering the package of phyllo dough each time.
Cover phyllo with half the spinach-cheese mixture. Add 5 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each one. Repeat with rest of spinach-cheese mixture and 5 more sheets of phyllo. With sharp knife, score top layers of phyllo in a diamond pattern.
Bake for 35-45 minutes. Top layer of phyllo should be golden brown and flaky looking.
42 | Sara’s Favorite Recipes
