Culinary Carrie: Spanikopita
SPANIKOPITA
Savory Greek pastry
Ingredients
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 whole fresh egg
• ½ Medium sweet onion minced and sauteed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced and sauteed
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough (found in frozen pie dough area)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet with butter or non stick spray.
3. Mix the spinach, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, onion, nutmeg and salt in a bowl.
4. On a clean work surface arrange first sheet of phyllo dough and brush with melted butter. Cover the remaining phyllo dough with a damp towel.
5. Place a second sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter, then place a third sheet on top of that and brush it with butter as well.
6. Cut the buttered phyllo lengthwise into four strips.
7. Place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture on the bottom of each strip. Take the bottom right corner of the phyllo layers and fold the dough over the filling to make a triangle (similar to folding paper footballs in the junior high school cafeteria). Fold the bottom left corner up to make another triangle. Continue folding until all the dough is folded. Arrange the stuffed triangles, seam-side down, on the prepared baking sheet.
8. Lightly brush the triangle with butter. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and spinach filling.
9. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.
I really enjoy preparing..and eating... Mediterranean foods. They are flavorful, vary from region to region and are full of good things for your body.
Filled with the great flavors and ingredients of the area for which they are named, Mediterranean dishes like Spanikopita include ingredients which contain chemical compounds shown to possess properties that fight heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
Spanikopita incorporates tender spinach rich in folate, fiber and iron along with cancer-fighting carotenoids. The savory cheese blend offers needed calcium. And the light, flakey phyllo ...well, who doesn't love something crunchy, flakey and buttery!? If it's this good for you why can't it taste great too?
"Culinary Carrie" This is my first visit to Charlotte Today Show not directly sponsored by Johnson & Wales University. I am still teaching...but stepping out on my own with their blessing. "Culinary Carrie" is a culmination of all of my studies, my life and my personality wrapped into a teaching format for the person who wants to learn preparation, cooking techniques and nutritional elements of the foods we eat.
There are a million songs still to be sung, but not many new musical notes being discovered. The same with food - there are a million recipes but the same terms , ratios, methods, balances and consistencies appear time after time and get brushed over by TV "recipe makers". I am a chef and a teacher.
Visit my website at www.culinarycarrie.com