My Big fat Greek Spinach Pie!

As you may already have guessed, I love Mediterranean food. Greek, being Mediterranean is one of my favorite cuisines, right up there with Lebanese and Indian. There are two ordinary pizza take out/delivery restaurants in my area, each with their own version of spinach pie. If I ever order from one of them, you bet your booty I am ordering the pie. The first few times I had it, I was stumped as to what the flavors were inside. I seriously couldn't figure it out.. Ok so there is spinach and feta cheese, thats a given but there was one or two more things that I couldn't figure out.

AH!

Finally it came to me. They used dill in their filling! And the other restaurant used dill AND a little mint. These two lovely herbs really pair well with the saltiness of the feta cheese and the crispness of the phyllo dough once baked. However, this recipe I am using will not include mint. It should, but its raining (remnants of tropical storm Lee) and I just don't feel like going outside to get some.

Also, if you have never used or even heard of phyllo (also spelled fillo) dough, be patient, it is very tough to use at first since these sheets are often times thinner than paper. They have to stay just lightly damp so that they don't dry out before you get to stuff them. Also, if yours are frozen, let them thaw out for a while, if you don't they may break apart instead of peeling apart.

If you are doing a baby or bridal shower (or any party really) and you don't feel like dealing with the sheets, I would recommend buying the pre made phyllo cups, a bit more expensive but its well worth it.

Lastly, you can use butter if you want, however, I shouldn't be eating so much butter (but its SOOO GOOD) so for the layers I used an egg and a little olive oil OR you could lightly spray each dough layer with butter flavored cooking spray (Thanks Sandra Lee!). This will be the first time I ever have used an egg so I will let you know how it comes out.

Oh man...onnnnneeee mooooreeee thinngggg. I like to sprinkle sesame seeds over the top before baking, you don't have to. I actually thought I had a bag of them, but I couldn't find it so I used sesame seeds which were hanging around the bottom of a pretzel bag (pretty strange eh!).

Recipe!

2 bags frozen spinach, thawed and water pressed out (can use fresh but why?)
1-2 tbsp fresh chopped dill OR 2 tsp dried
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 cube frozen garlic, Dorot, OR 1-2 minced cloves
1 box defrosted phyllo dough or cups
Melted butter, olive oil or egg

First you need to find a large pan, can be glass or metal. I think metal might be better for the crisp factor, but all I have are glass so whatev. Butter or oil the bottom of the pan and GENTLY place a piece of the phyllo over it, GENTLY press down to form into pan and then GENTLY add more of the fat of choice (or spray or egg). Do this a few times, you should have somewhere between 5-8 layers of dough.

Next, add your spinach filling, it can be pretty thick. No one wants to bite into a limp spinach pie, now do they?? NO! Gently place another piece of the dough over the spinach, brush with egg/oil/butter, repeat 5-8 times, brush the top of the pie and voila!

Now its time for your preheated oven to 375. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the top is browned and it all just smells awesome.

Allow to cool completely before slicing, I usually slice into squares, but if you are not a geometry failure go ahead and make fun triangles, trapezoids...whatever.

 Now enjoy!