A delicious pie made with spinach and feta cheese, Spanakopita is a classic Greek favorite that will work as an appetizer, side dish or even a light lunch or dinner.

The traditional filling comprises chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions or scallions, egg, and seasoning.

The filling is wrapped or layered in phyllo (filo) pastry with butter or olive oil, either in a large pan from which individual servings are cut, or rolled into individual triangular servings. While the filo-dough recipe is most common, many recipes from the Greek islands call for a crust made of flour and water to form a crunchier, calzone-like exterior in place of the flaky filo dough. The pastry is golden in color when baked, the color often enhanced by butter and egg yolk. Other white, fresh, preferably salted cheeses may also be mixed with, or substituted for, the feta cheese.

It can be served straight from the oven or at room temperature. There is a “fasting”, or vegan, version of spanakopita, eaten during the Great Lent and other religious fasts, and composed of spinach, onions or green onions, other green herbs like dill, parsley or celery, olive oil and a little wheat flour, but without eggs or dairy products; the mixture is oven-baked until crisp. Non-traditional vegan versions are available that typically use tofu instead of cheese.

Ingredients:

For dough

500 g  all-purpose flour
100 ml Olive Oil
20 ml white wine vinegar
10 g granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
210 ml water
200 ml olive oil, for brushing

For filling

1/2 cup Olive oil
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 kg spinach
½ bunch mint, coarsely chopped
1 bunch Mediterranean hartwort, coarsely chopped
4 springs fresh oregano
1/3 bunch dill, chopped
grated zest of 1 lemon
500 g feta cheese  , crumbled
freshly ground pepper
salt

Directions

For the dough
Beat the flour, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and water for 5 minutes in a mixer, using the hook attachment.

If you don’t have a mixer, mix with your hands and knead for 5 minutes.

When the dough comes together nicely and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl, it is ready.

The dough should be soft and elastic. If it is not, beat for another 5 minutes.

When ready, transfer to another bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.

For the filling
Place a nonstick pan over medium to high heat. Add a little olive oil and the spring onions. Sauté until they soften.

Tear up the spinach with your hands and add to the pan. Sauté until it softens and all of the liquid evaporates.
Transfer to a bowl.

Add the mint, hartwort, oregano, dill, lemon zest, feta cheese, salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.
Stir and your filling is ready!

How to roll out phyllo dough
Preheat oven to 190* C (374* F) Fan.

When the dough is ready, transfer to your working surface and divide in to 6 equal parts.

Sprinkle some semolina or flour on a clean surface and start to roll out the first of the 6 pieces of dough. You want it to become as thin as possible.

If your dough is too sticky, sprinkle with some more semolina or flour and continue rolling out.

Always roll the rolling pin towards you to spread the dough out further.

Continue rolling out the pieces of dough in the same manner.

Brush a 30 cm round baking pan with olive oil.
Lay the first 1 phyllo sheet, to cover the pan, allowing it to exceed the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and repeat with 2 more phyllo sheets, to create the bottom crust.

Drizzle with olive oil. Do not brush the phyllo so that they don’t stick to one another and air pockets can be created in between them. This makes the phyllo crunchier!

You will need about 200 ml of olive oil for all of the phyllo.

Add the filling, spreading it evenly all over the phyllo base. Drizzle filling with some olive oil.

Cover filling with another 3 sheets of phyllo dough, repeating the exact same process as before. Turn the edges over with your fingers and gently tuck them in all the way around.

Score the surface with a sharp knife and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until golden and crunchy. When ready, remove from oven and cut in to pieces.