Spanakopita
These delicious pies are a Yoga Kitchen staple. We got the inspiration for them whilst working at Yoga Rocks in Crete - although the Greek Grannies probably wouldn't approve of our recipe... or method ;-)!
They look impressive and they are actually pretty simple to make, once you get in the rhythm of folding them. So they are a good dinner party option served with a nice quinoa salad and maybe some beetroot dip.
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Cook off the spinach in a little water until it has wilted, then tip into a sieve and allow to drain well for 5 or 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine the sun dried tomatoes, pruned dill and feta (if you're adding cheese).
4. Add the drained spinach to the mix and season with a little salt and pepper - if you added feta you probably wont need much salt.
5. Next pour some olive oil in a little bowl, then on a clean surface layer 3 sheets of Filo on top of one another, lightly brushing (with a pastry brush) each one with olive oil as you layer them.
6. Slice the filo length ways into 3. Now you should have 3 long strips of pastry as in the picture below.
7. Take a spoonful of the spinach mix and place it in a rough triangle shape in the corner of one of the strips (shown below).
Then fold over and keep folding until you have a triangle shaped pie - as shown in the video. Brush with a little more oil to seal the pastry and place on the baking tray.
Don't worry if it's not perfect the first time, my first few were a little unusual looking but tasted fantastic.... Dan's first one, on the other hand, was so triangular it could have featured in a Maths book on a lesson about right-angled triangles!!
8. Once you've folded all 12 sprinkle with sesame seeds, pop them in the oven and bake for about 12-17 minutes until crisp and golden.
9. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes then enjoy.
They look impressive and they are actually pretty simple to make, once you get in the rhythm of folding them. So they are a good dinner party option served with a nice quinoa salad and maybe some beetroot dip.
Ingredients
Makes 12 pies
- 12 Sheets Filo Pastry
- 400g Spinach
- 30g Dill - pruned
- Handful of Sun Dried Toms - chopped
- 200g Feta (optional)
- 20g Sesame seeds
- Olive Oil - for brushing the pastry
- Salt and Pepper
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Cook off the spinach in a little water until it has wilted, then tip into a sieve and allow to drain well for 5 or 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine the sun dried tomatoes, pruned dill and feta (if you're adding cheese).
5. Next pour some olive oil in a little bowl, then on a clean surface layer 3 sheets of Filo on top of one another, lightly brushing (with a pastry brush) each one with olive oil as you layer them.
6. Slice the filo length ways into 3. Now you should have 3 long strips of pastry as in the picture below.
 |
| Cutting the Filo into 3 |
7. Take a spoonful of the spinach mix and place it in a rough triangle shape in the corner of one of the strips (shown below).
Then fold over and keep folding until you have a triangle shaped pie - as shown in the video. Brush with a little more oil to seal the pastry and place on the baking tray.
Don't worry if it's not perfect the first time, my first few were a little unusual looking but tasted fantastic.... Dan's first one, on the other hand, was so triangular it could have featured in a Maths book on a lesson about right-angled triangles!!
8. Once you've folded all 12 sprinkle with sesame seeds, pop them in the oven and bake for about 12-17 minutes until crisp and golden.
9. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes then enjoy.
