Spinach And Feta Phyllo Triangles Spanokopita Food

SPANAKOPITA TRIANGLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Slowly cook and stir onions until softened.
• Mix in spinach, dill and flour.
• Cook approximately 10 minutes, or until most of the moisture has been absorbed.
• Remove from heat.
• Mix in feta cheese, eggs, salt and pepper.
• Lay phyllo dough flat and brush with butter.
• Place a small amount of spinach mixture onto each piece of dough.
• Fold phyllo into triangles around the mixture.
• Brush with butter.
• Place filled phyllo dough triangles on a large baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until golden brown.

SPANAKOPITA (SPINACH TRIANGLES OR PIE)

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saute pan, add half of the spinach and saute until spinach wilts, tossing with tongs, about 2 minutes. Remove spinach and squeeze out excess liquid, then chop roughly. Repeat with remaining spinach, using 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Pour off any liquid from the pan, and add remaining olive oil. Add scallions and saute until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spinach to the scallions, along with the parsley, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. (This part can be done ahead and kept refrigerated).
• Stir the feta and as much beaten egg to moisten the cooled spinach mixture.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.
• Unroll the filo dough on a flat surface and keep it covered with waxed paper and a damp towel so it doesn't dry out and become brittle. Using a sharp knife, cut the filo into 3 by 11 inch strips, and recover with the towel. Use a pastry brush to brush a strip of filo with melted butter. Place a small spoonful of spinach filling 1 inch from the end of the pastry. Fold the end over the filling to form a triangle, then continue to fold up the strip in triangles, like folding up a flag. Continue with remaining strips of dough, placing filled triangles on the baking sheet and keeping them covered with a towel until all are ready to bake.
• Brush the triangles lightly with butter, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Serve hot. (These may be frozen before baking, layering waxed paper between layers of triangles to keep them from sticking. Bake frozen triangles an extra 10 minutes.)

SPINACH AND FETA SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Thoroughly squeeze any excess water from the thawed spinach, removing as much liquid as possible. Coarsely chop.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and golden brown. Add the spinach and nutmeg, sauteing for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the feta, lemon juice, cracked black pepper and egg to thoroughly combine. Allow the filling to cool.
• Melt the remaining butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Cool slightly. Cover the stack of phyllo sheets with a clean damp kitchen towel.
• Working with the long side of the phyllo sheet nearest you, take 1 sheet from the stack and brush the entire surface with butter. Top with another phyllo sheet, brushing with more butter. Cut crosswise into five 2 1/2 to 3-inch strips.
• Place 2 teaspoons filling in the corner of each strip. Just like you would fold a flag, fold the corner of phyllo over to enclose the filling, forming a triangle, and continue folding the entire strip. Ending with the seam-side down, place the triangles on a large baking sheet and brush the tops with butter.
• Follow the same steps with the remaining ingredients.
• Space evenly on a sheet tray and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.

SPINACH & FETA SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line 1-2 baking trays with parchment paper.
• Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and lemon zest. Squeeze out the thawed spinach well and add to the pan, stirring well to break it down, and stir to warm it through. Spoon the spinach into a bowl, stir in the feta and season to taste.
• Lay out a sheet of phyllo and brush evenly with the melted butter. Place a second sheet of phyllo on top and brush it with butter. With a knife or pastry wheel cut the pastry into 6 strips, starting from a long side. Spoon a little of the filling at the base of each strip. Fold the phyllo strips into triangles starting at the end with the filling, sealing in the filling as you fold up each triangle. Repeat with the remaining phyllo sheets and filling. Brush the pastries with eggwash and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown. Serve the pastries warm. Alternatively, the pastries can be assembled and chilled until ready to bake.

PHYLLO TRIANGLES WITH SPINACH , FETA AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• FILLING: Mix the feta, ricotta, eggs, scallions, dill, lemon juice, garlic, nutmeg, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Stir in the spinach until uniform. (The filling can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.).
• PHYLLO LAYERS: Adjust an oven rack to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 375 degrees.Form the phyllo triangles, using a generous 1 tablespoon of filling per triangle. Spread the triangles out over 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake the triangles until golden, about 20 minutes, switching and rotating the sheets halfway through the baking time.

SPANAKOPITA (SPINACH AND FETA PIE)

Steps:

• Combine butter and olive oil in large heavy pan and fry onion and garlic until soft.
• Wash and drain spinach and remove thick stalks, then blanch for a minute or two in boiling water.
• Add blanched spinach to onion and garlic mix and cook for further 5 minutes or so.
• Spinach should be deep green colour and stalks should be tender.
• Add eggs (I use no eggs, but the traditional receipe calls for them) and dill.
• Crumble feta into pan and stir well for a minute or two.
• Eggs should be cooked by then.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Butter baking pan.
• If using phyllo, separate sheets, and brush each sheet individually with melted butter.
• Use 15-20 sheets, and overlap them, making sure that sheets hang well over the edge of the pan.
• If using short-crust or puff pastry, roll out a sheet big enough to line pan with plenty hanging outside.
• If making bite-sized pies cut squares approximately 2 1/12" square.
• Drain spinach mixture by pressing lightly and allowing liquid to drain into a cup or bowl.
• The filling should not be too wet or the pastry gets mushy.
• It should also not be too dry or the pie is not juicy enough.
• Put filling into pastry and bring edges up to enclose filling.
• (Fill each bite-size square with a spoonfull or so, fold over pastry into a triangle).
• Seal by crimping, tucking in, or any means that work.
• Score the top lightly, not enough to reach filling, and brush with egg.
• Bake in moderate oven until pastry is golden and done.
• Good hot or cold.

SPINACH, FETA, AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO PHYLLO TRIANGLES

Steps:

• Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F In a large bowl, combine the spinach, feta, mint, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, eggs, garlic, lemon juice and zest, pepper, and salt. Mix well.
• Unroll the phyllo and lay it flat on a clean, dry surface. Cover completely with plastic wrap. Working with one sheet of phyllo at a time, and keeping the rest covered with the plastic wrap to keep it from drying out, place a sheet vertically in front of you. Brush the phyllo with butter and cover with another sheet. Butter the top sheet and cut the phyllo lengthwise into equal 3-inch-wide strips. Spoon 2 teaspoons of filling on the lower end of each strip as shown in the left photo below. Fold up the phyllo strips as you would a flag to create a neat triangle, being careful not to roll too tightly or the triangles will crack when baked. Transfer to a baking sheet and cover with plastic. Repeat with the rest of the phyllo and filling until you run out of filling.
• Butter two sheet pans. Arrange the phyllo triangles on the prepared baking sheets in a single layer. Brush the tops of the triangles with melted butter and bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, switching the positions of the pans halfway through baking.
• Make Ahead Tips. Assembled, unbaked phyllo triangles can be frozen for up to a month. Freeze the triangles on the baking sheet. When frozen, transfer them to an airtight container, setting parchment or plastic wrap between layers if needed, and return to the freezer. Bake as directed above (do not thaw the triangles first); baking time will be 20 to 25 minutes.

ATHENA'S SPANAKOPITA (SPINACH AND FETA PIE)

Steps:

• Place spinach and water in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover bowl with large dinner plate. Microwave on high power until spinach is wilted and decreased in volume by half, about 5 minutes. Using potholders, remove bowl from microwave and keep covered, 1 minute. Carefully remove plate and transfer spinach to colander set in sink. Using back of rubber spatula, gently press spinach against colander to release excess liquid.
• Transfer spinach to cutting board and roughly chop. Transfer spinach to clean kitchen towel and squeeze to remove excess water. Place drained spinach in large bowl. Add remaining filling ingredients and mix. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Using pastry brush, lightly brush 14 by 9-inch rectangle in center of parchment with melted butter to cover area same size as phyllo. Lay 1 phyllo sheet on buttered parchment, and brush thoroughly with melted butter. Repeat with 9 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter (you should have total of 10 layers of phyllo).
• Spread spinach mixture evenly over phyllo, leaving 1/4 inch border on all sides. Cover spinach with 6 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter and sprinkling each with about 2 tablespoons Pecorino cheese. Lay 2 more phyllo sheets on top, brushing each with butter (these layers should not be sprinkled with Pecorino).
• Working from center outward, use palms of your hands to compress layers and press out any air pockets. Using sharp knife, score pie through the top 3 layers of phyllo into 24 equal pieces. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Bake until phyllo is golden and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes or up to 2 hours. Slide spanakopita, still on parchment, to cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.