Spanakopita

Yesterday Margaret and Matthew gave a party to celebrate Hazel Nina’s first birthday, and Tom’s sixty-fourth birthday. Margaret asked Tom to make his specialty, spanakopita, and it shall be today's contribution to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

                                                                       Spanakopita

1 box phyllo (from the dictionary - can be spelled 

filo pastry, phyllo, fillo) dough

This is what we always use

2 10-ounce packages of frozen chopped spinach

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled

1 1/4 cups grated cheese. Tom used Cheddar, Parmesan, and Romano.

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup olive oil - more or less depending on how much you need to brush onto the phyllo dough

If your dough is in the freezer, remove it and put it in the refrigerator overnight. 

The next day unwrap and unroll the sheets so they are in a pile like a stack of paper.

Thaw spinach, and cook until tender. Drain and press to remove water.

Sauté onions in olive oil until tender, and then stir in cooked spinach until most of the moisture from the spinach has evaporated.

In a large bowl mix the cheeses. Add the spinach/onion mix. Add beaten eggs and mix well.

Grease 10-inch x 15-inch pan with olive oil.

Place 2 sheets of phyllo into the pan and using a pastry brush, brush lightly with olive oil. Repeat twice more until 6 sheets are on the bottom.

Put about a third of the cheese/spinach/egg mix on top, and spread it around. 

Then repeat whole process twice more.

Add two sheets of phyllo, brushed with oil, and then two more, brushed with oil for the very top.

Bake in preheated 375º F. oven until golden brown, about half an hour. 

This was a huge hit at the party!