Spanakopita
A Greek pie decided at a single stage: the spinach must be squeezed bone dry. A kilo of fresh leaves gives up more than half a litre of water, and every spoonful left in the filling turns the bottom layers of filo to paste. The second condition is scoring the pastry before baking — baked filo shatters under a knife and the pie can no longer be divided evenly.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Spinach 25 min
- Filling 15 min
- Assembly 20 min
- Baking 45 min
- Resting 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBlanch the spinach in batches
Wash the spinach and remove the thick stalks. Drop it into boiling water a handful at a time, for 30 seconds, then into cold water; the whole kilo takes about 15 minutes. In batches, because that many leaves won't fit in the pot at once, the water would stop boiling and the spinach would stew to a grey mush instead of wilting quickly.
Ingredients: 1000 g spinach · 300 g feta · 6 pcs spring onions · 1 bunch dill · ½ bunch parsley · 3 pcs eggs · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1 pinch nutmeg · ½ tsp black pepper
Squeeze the spinach dry
Wrap the spinach in a tea towel and wring it with all your strength until nothing more runs out. A kilo leaves about 250 g. This step decides the pie — wet spinach soaks the filo from below and nothing will be crisp.
Ingredients: 1000 g spinach · 300 g feta · 6 pcs spring onions · 1 bunch dill · ½ bunch parsley · 3 pcs eggs · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1 pinch nutmeg · ½ tsp black pepper
Wring until it stops dripping — a quarter of the weight remains.Mix the filling with crumbled feta
Chop the spinach, spring onions, dill and parsley. Mix with the crumbled feta, eggs, oil, nutmeg and pepper. Do not add salt — the feta gives up so much that extra salt usually ruins the filling.
Ingredients: 1000 g spinach · 300 g feta · 6 pcs spring onions · 1 bunch dill · ½ bunch parsley · 3 pcs eggs · 3 tbsp olive oil · 1 pinch nutmeg · ½ tsp black pepper
Keep the filo under a damp cloth
Heat the oven to 180 °C. Unroll the filo and cover the stack with a damp tea towel, pulling out one sheet at a time. Filo dries within two minutes and then shatters at every touch — the commonest cause of failure with this pastry.
Ingredients: 450 g filo pastry · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Layer eight sheets for the base, oiling each
Line a tray of about 25 × 35 cm with eight sheets, brushing each one with oil and letting them overhang the edges. Oiling every other sheet is not enough — the oil between layers is what makes the filo separate into flakes.
Ingredients: 450 g filo pastry · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Oil on every sheet, none skipped.Spread the filling and close the top
Spread the filling in an even layer, fold the overhanging edges inwards and cover with another eight sheets, each oiled. Crumple the top sheets slightly with your hand — a rippled surface gives more crisp edges.
Ingredients: 450 g filo pastry · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Score into squares before baking
Score into squares with a sharp knife, cutting through the top layers only, and scatter with sesame. Baked filo collapses under a knife — scoring beforehand is the surest route to even portions.
Ingredients: 450 g filo pastry · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Top layers only — after baking it is too late.Bake 45 minutes and rest before cutting
Bake 45 minutes at 180 °C, until deep golden and hard to the touch. Leave 15 minutes — the hot filling is soft and oozes out, while rested the pie cuts cleanly along the score lines.
Ingredients: 450 g filo pastry · 120 ml olive oil · 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Before you start
Frozen spinach works too
Use 600 g of frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed exactly the same way. It is cheaper and faster, and the difference is slight — the feta and herbs carry the filling anyway.
The leek version
Greeks also bake prasopita, a leek pie. Replace part of the spinach with leeks sliced into half-rings and softened in olive oil: the filling is milder and sweeter, and the technique stays the same.
Reheat in the oven only
A microwave turns filo to rubber irreversibly. Reheat for 10 minutes at 180 °C and almost all the crispness returns. The pie keeps three days in the fridge and freezes well in portions.
