Delicious buttery layers of filo pastry and a whole world of cheesy spinach filling make this a most beloved Greek recipe!
Function: Circo Therm®
Spanakopita
Ingredients
1/4 cup oil
2 large onions, chopped
5 spring onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 x 280g bags baby spinach leaves
1 large bunch of silver beet, coarse stalks removed and roughly chopped
200g Greek feta, crumbled
200g ricotta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
4 eggs
1/3 cup Greek yoghurt
1 1/2 tsps dried oregano leaves
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Grated rind of half a lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 sheets filo pastry
125g melted butter
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Method
Preheat the oven on CircoTherm® to 190°C.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frypan and sauté the onion for 5 minutes on induction setting 6 or 7 until softened, add the spring onions and garlic a sauté a further minute or so. Transfer to a medium sized bowl and allow to cool.
Place one bag of the spinach into the frypan, cover with a lid and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes or until the spinach is just wilted, transfer the spinach to a colander and repeat the process with the remaining spinach and also the silver beet. Once the greens are cool enough, squeeze as much liquid out of then as possible, then transfer to a board and chop finely.
Add the spinach to the onion mixture then add the cheeses, eggs, yoghurt, herbs, spices and lemon, season well and mix to combine thoroughly.
Brush 6 sheets of filo with the melted butter and lay one at a time into a 35 x 25cm baking pan, allow the pastry to sit up the sides of the pan. Spoon in the filling over the base then top with the remaining sheets of filo, each brushed with butter. Roll the edges of the pastry lightly toward the centre to enclose the filling and make an edge. Score the top of the pastry lightly in a diamond pattern then sprinkle over the sesame seeds
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Serve immediately.
Authors Bio
As an experienced home economist and Food Designer Trish has worked over the span of her career in the food and home appliance industry as a demonstrator, teacher, recipe developer and food stylist. For more than 20 years she worked for and later managed the test kitchen for a large FMCG company working on some of Australia’s most trusted and iconic food brands, developing recipes and usages for their products as well as styling mouth watering images for cookbooks and websites. She has also appeared regularly as a brand ambassador on a number of well loved television cooking shows.