{"id":3915,"date":"2016-06-10T16:32:04","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T16:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yousaytomatocooking.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=3915"},"modified":"2022-11-14T11:29:40","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T11:29:40","slug":"greek-spinach-feta-egg-pie-child-approved-green-recipe","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/cookwithgem.com\/recipe\/greek-spinach-feta-egg-pie-child-approved-green-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanakopita – spinach, feta, egg and filo pie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spanakopita<\/em> is the correct name for this Greek pie made of filo*, spinach, feta and egg. However my boys have named it ‘green pie’ rather than Greek pie since they are a) very literal, and b) not the best listeners. Regardless of the name, they and I agree (for once) that it is the most delicious way to eat a load of greens without fuss. Numerous children of my acquaintance have gobbled this down much to the amazement of their parents. But let’s not just save this for children. It is a perfect make ahead lunch, dinner, party or picnic food for all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*American friends – if you’re wondering what filo<\/em> pastry is, it is phyllo <\/em>or fillo<\/em> dough in your neck of the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My first taste of Spanakopita<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I first encountered Spanakopita when I was backpacking around the Greek islands with my lovely friend Megan when we were scarily young and footloose. I say<\/em> backpacking, but although we set off with said backpacks and had our Lonely Planet island hopping route planned, we decided we liked the first island we stopped at so much we stayed there for the whole 2 weeks. We still reminisce about how simple life was then when we could laze for two weeks with no plan, no phones and barely any money. By the end of the two weeks we were running low on funds, so bought and fell in love with the fat wedges of wafer thin pastry filled with spinach and feta that were sold all over the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since those carefree days I’ve had a go at making all sorts of versions of Spanakopita. I only really made it regularly once my boys started loving it, as anything that helps them gobble greens and hangs around well for a few days in the fridge is a huge help for dinners and portable lunches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make it individual or family size<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally Spanakopita is made in a big rectangle to be cut into slices, or as triangle samosa-like individual pies. I find that the easiest way to make it at home is to make little individual pies in muffin pans or a bigger pie in my frying pan and then cut it into fat wedges. My boys love making it with me and it is so low stress to make that I always let them help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word on fresh vs frozen spinach or other greens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I love using organic frozen leaf spinach in this recipe and in lots of other recipes. To get the volume of spinach I’d need from fresh spinach I’d need to buy a vast quantity and then spend time wilting it. The frozen stuff is already wilted and just needs defrosting and draining. I use fresh vegetables all the time of course but have no guilt about using frozen when they are cheaper, easier and as delicious as they are in this case. Frozen vegetables retain all their vitamins whereas fresh vegetables may have been sitting in a supermarket fridge for days before you eat them. I also throw the pellets of frozen leaf spinach into soups, stews and curries and let the heat of the food defrost the spinach. They’re handy for small servings of vegetables for children and are great in smoothies too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually you\u2019ll see it made with spinach but recently I had a bit of a backlog with using cabbage from our veg box so I\u2019m have also used that instead. In Greece, spanakopita is made with all sorts of wild bitter greens and the lemon, feta and nutmeg knocks down the green flavours that may cause problems usually. You can use spinach, kale or cabbage or a mixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re using cabbage or kale, shred it as finely as possible and then steam-fry it in a pan with an inch of water and a lid on over a high heat for about 4 minutes, shaking it until it wilts (see this video<\/a>) . Then take the lid off to cook off any liquid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I used my Scanpan frying pan to cook the greens, I can reuse it without washing to cook the pie in the oven. It is a really good non stick one so I didn\u2019t use any parchment. If your pan is more sticky, you may want to line it with parchment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favourite side with Spanakopita<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I always like to serve mine with a parsley, tomato and red wine vinegar salad. I just half some baby tomatoes, toss them with sea salt flakes, black pepper, lots of roughly chopped flat leaf or Italian parsley and red wine vinegar. The sharpness of the vinegar and the sweetness of the tomatoes works really well with the salty feta and green flavour of the pie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make 1 Spanakopita pie to serve 6 people, or around 12 muffin sized mini pies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients<\/h3>\n\n\n\n