Spanakopita -Garden to Table Cooking at Home

Spanakopita -Garden to Table Cooking at Home

Baked some great Spanakopita last week with our bumper crop of home-grown spinach. For my full recipe from my book “Pastry and Dessert Techniques” check out my past post on Savory Pastries.

This spring season has seen an extraordinary amount of rain and cool weather in Southern Missouri. In our garden the weather pattern has resulted in the best spinach I have ever grown. I baked some flaky buttery phyllo pastries last week and shared it on my Facebook and Instagram post where I point out some points for successful use when baking with phyllo. I am re-blogging this past with my full recipe. Enjoy!

Spanakopita
Yield 36 appetizer portions

1 pound                                   Fresh spinach julienne
¼ cup                                       Onion minced
1 teaspoon                              Garlic minced
2 tablespoons                          Fresh oregano chopped
2 tablespoons                          Fresh basil chiffonade
1 Tablespoon                          Fresh mint chopped
4 ounces                                   Cream Cheese
8 ounces                                  Feta Cheese
2                                                Eggs
1 cup                                         Breadcrumbs
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
18 sheets                                  Phyllo pastry
Clarified butter for brushing pastry about 3 cups)
Breadcrumbs for dusting the phyllo (about 2 cups)
Olive oil for cooking the spinach (About 1/4 cup)



1. Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent,
2. Add the spinach and the chopped herbs and sauté until spinach is wilted,
3. Cool and squeeze out the excess water and blend with the cream and feta cheese in a mixing machine with the paddle until smooth,
4. Season with salt and pepper if needed and add the eggs and breadcrumbs,
5. Lay out a sheet of phyllo pastry and brush with butter and dust with breadcrumbs,
6. Repeat the process with another sheet to make 2 layers,
7. Cut the sheets into 4 long strips about 2 ½” wide and sprinkle a small amount of breadcrumbs at the base of each strip,
8. With a pastry bag pipe onto the base about 2 tablespoons of the spinach filling,
9. Fold into triangles,
10. Brush finished triangles with more butter and bake at 375F until crisp and serve (about 10 minutes in a convection oven).