Greek Spinach and Feta Pie (Spanakopita)

Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 35 mins
Total time: 1 hour 35 mins
Serves: 9

Spanakopita is a traditional Greek dish full of high fat cheeses, butter and olive oil. I slimmed down the dish making it a wonderful international dish the whole family can enjoy.

Ingredients

  • 1 package frozen spinach, thawed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 6 green onions (or scallions), chopped
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup dill, chopped
  • 1/2 cup reduced fat ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup reduced fat crumbled feta
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon+ 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 6 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed
  • 2 teaspoons butter, melted
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Ring out thawed spinach completely, so that it is completely dry.
  3. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions until soft.
  4. Add green onions/scallions, parsley, dill and spinach and cook until spinach is nice and wilted. Set aside and allow to cool.
  5. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, feta, egg whites and salt and pepper.
  6. Once the spinach mixture has cooled, add to the cheese mixture, stirring well.
  7. Combine melted butter and remaining olive oil in a small bowl.
  8. Lay three sheets of the phyllo dough on clean surface and lightly brush with butter/olive oil mixture.
  9. Cut the stacked sheets into 3 sections.
  10. Scoop 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the spinach mixture and place near the bottom edge of the phyllo.
  11. Fold the phyllo dough around the mixture forming a triangle (fold it as if you were folding a flag). Repeat for remaining sheets and mixture.
  12. Place the pockets on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
  13. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes, or until golden brown (it took my oven around 35 minutes).
  14. Enjoy!

Nutritional data

Serving size: 1 pockets
Calories: 96
Fat: 4.2 grams
Carbohydrates: 8.7 grams
Protein: 6.2 grams

Nutritional data is approximate.

 

 

One of the weeknight menu item categories I came up with last week was International Night. I want the kids to have a taste of foods that are not easily found here in the US at local restaurants. While working on the Pinterest Challenge I stumbled across a recipe for Spanakopita. I didn't have a clue what it was but it sure looked good. I did a bit more digging and found hundreds of recipes online. Unfortunately, most of them called for large amounts of olive oil and butter. I found three that I liked here, hereandhere. I dissected them and took my favorite parts of each recipe and decided to give it a go. The first sign this was a winner was the smell wafting from the oven. It smelled like what I would think Greek heaven smells like. The second sign was that the Princess said "oh momma that looks good" instead of the normal"I don't like that - what is it?". But it wasn't until the Princess started shoveling it down (even though it was too hot) while saying "momma can we have this again?" that I knew we had a winner. It took a bit of time preparing but it is so insanely good! Just one helpful note - I love dill. I could eat dill raw and be happy as a clam, but this was a little dill heavy. I think what happened is that some of the dill got clumpy because my first pocket was really dilly and the other one was fine. So... if you use the amount of dill suggested, make sure it gets evenly spread throughout the mixture or it will overpower the meal. Otherwise this one is perfect in our book.