Hearty Spinach And Feta Cheese Bread Food

FETA-AND-SPINACH BUNS

Steps:

• For the dough: Warm the milk and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan over low heat to about 100 degrees F (but no more than 110 degrees F). Remove the saucepan from the heat, and sprinkle the yeast over the liquid. Sprinkle a pinch of the sugar over the top, and let sit without stirring until foamy, about 5 minutes. Then whisk in the butter and egg yolk.
• Whisk together the flour, remaining sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and stir in the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon until you have a thick, sticky dough. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface, and knead until soft and elastic, about 6 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball.
• Brush the inside of a large bowl with butter. Add the dough ball, turning to coat lightly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, trace a circle the size of the dough ball on the plastic and note the time. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl, and knead briefly to release excess air. Re-form it into a ball, and return it to the bowl. Lightly butter a large piece of plastic wrap, and lay it on the dough. Cover the entire bowl tightly with the rest of the plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to let the dough proof.
• For the filling: Melt the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach, and cook until it is cooked through and nearly all the liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the feta, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, lemon zest, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Transfer the filling to a medium bowl, and let cool completely. (The filling will firm up a bit, but if it's too warm, it will be difficult to form the buns.)
• To fill and form the buns: Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface, and press it flat. Roll it into a 10-by-18-inch rectangle, with a long side facing you. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving about a 1-inch border on the side opposite you. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan evenly over the filling. Starting from the side facing you, roll the dough up into a tight roll. Lightly brush the 1-inch border with water, and continue rolling to seal the roll. Fold the ends in just a bit, and if any spots look thicker than others, even out the roll with your hands.
• Cut the roll every 1 1/2 inches with a serrated knife, to make 12 buns. Place the buns cut-side down (except for the end pieces) in the prepared pan, spacing them 1 inch apart. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until the buns double in size, leaving no gaps in between, 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• For the topping: Stir together the butter, dill, lemon zest and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a small bowl; set aside.
• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the buns until they're golden brown and the tops spring back when pressed lightly, 25 to 30 minutes. Spread the topping evenly over the buns, and return them to the oven until the butter is melted and the topping is fragrant, 5 minutes more. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.

SPINACH FETA FILO PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring often until the onion is softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape into a large bowl.
• Add the parsley, eggs, feta, mint, dill, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the bowl and stir to combine. Squeeze any remaining moisture from spinach, and it to the bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined.
• Unfold filo and set on a slightly damp cloth. Layer a second slightly damp cloth over it to prevent the filo from drying out as you work. Coat a deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray (or brush with butter.)
• Place two sheets of filo into the pie plate, pressing it into the corners of the pie plate. Brush with butter. Repeat with a second sheet of filo, placing it down about 45 degrees from the previous sheet. Brush with butter. Continue adding sheets and buttering until all but 4 sheets are in the bottom of the pie plate.
• Spread the filling into the filo shell.
• Layer and butter the remaining four filo sheets over the pie, offsetting them as before.
• Roll the edges of the pie up along the edges to form a ruffled 2-inch-wide lip along the edge of the pie plate. Brush it and the top of the pie with any remaining butter.
• Bake until the crust is deeply golden brown, and an instant read thermometer registers 165 degrees F in the center of the pie, 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes before slicing into wedges and serving.

SPINACH AND FETA STUFFED BREAD

Steps:

• Combine feta and next 10 ingredients in a bowl.
• Roll dough into a 16 x 10-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
• Spread spinach mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
• Beginning with a long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam and ends to seal.
• Place roll, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
• Cut diagonal slits into top of the roll using a sharp knife.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top of the roll.
• Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until golden.

SPINACH AND FETA STUFFED BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450.
• Unroll pizza crust on a greased baking sheet and shape into a rectangle. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a large pan over med-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 2-3 minutes.
• Add spinach in stages, stirring until wilted. Remove pan from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
• Using a slotted spoon, place filling onto lower half of crust. Pull upper half over filling and crimp edges to seal. With a sharp knife, cut 3 or so small slits in the top for steam.
• Bake 15 minutes.
• The original recipe calls for brushing with milk and sprinkling parmesan cheese. Sometimes I skip the milk and just sprinkle parmesan and garlic powder on top.

HEARTY SPINACH AND FETA CHEESE BREAD

Steps:

• Warm 1/4 cup of the reserved spinach liquid to just above 100F (105 to 115, ideally).
• Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm spinach liquid, let stand until foamy, 10 minutes.
• Add remaining 1/2 cup spinach liquid, feta cheese, oil, spinach, and nutmeg and stir thoroughly.
• Mix the flour and salt and stir into the spinach mixture.
• Knead on a floured surface or in a Mixmaster until dough is well marbled, 8 to 10 minutes. Add more flour, if the dough is sticky, but it is okay if it is slightly moist. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours.
• The dough may be even wetter after rising because of the spinach. Pour the dough onto a well-floured work surface and flour the top of the dough if necessary. Shape into a loaf and place on a lightly oiled bread pan. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°F Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400F and bake the loaf 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool completely on a rack.

SPINACH FETA BREAD (A B M)

Steps:

• Add the dough ingredients to your bread machine pan in the order listed.
• Set your machine for a 1 lb dough cycle. If your machine has an extras setting, select it.
• Toss the cubed feta with the whole wheat flour. Add to the extras dispenser if your bread machine has one, if not, just set it aside. (It doesn't all fit into the dispenser, so add what will fit, and either mound the rest on top, or set it aside.).
• You have to pay attention to your machine. If it has the extras setting (on my machine, it's 20 minutes into the cycle), when you hear it dispense the cheese, open the lid and add the shredded spinach. If you don't have an extra setting, open the lid and add the spinach and the cheese 20 minutes into the cycle.
• Once the cycle is complete, remove the dough from the machine, form it into a tight ball, cover it with bread machine pan, and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Shape the dough into a fat, round loaf. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Brush the top of the loaf with the optional beaten egg. (It gives the finished loaf a nice shiny glaze.).
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
• Cool on a wire rack.

BREAD MACHINE SPINACH AND FETA BREAD

Steps:

• Place all ingredients into the bread machine bowl except the yeast, cheese and spinach.
• Place yeast in yeast hopper, and with 10 minutes left in the last kneading cycle add spinach and cheese.
• Walk away!