It was a while ago, when I said to myself "You can beat this". I was referring to my urgent need to change a recipe to my likings, because I didn't want to eat a very bad ingredient a.k.a. butter. Not only did I realise later, that what goes on our brain about food is far worse than the reality. More often do we feel like we have to limit ourselves to what we eat, only because we think it will make us feel better. I learned the hard way that is not the case. Especially if you are an anxiety driven individual like myself, you can't mask something and call it something else.
Through the years I taught myself how to cook healthier, but not necessarily cut out important food categories from my diet. I learned how to love the whole process of cooking or baking and to enjoy food whenever I had it. That meant, I had to come to terms with certain facts and have a blast with my food. It seemed really difficult at times, but again our brain can do magic things. One of those things is imagination. If you imagine something great with your mind, there is no reason you can't achieve it. Like this spinach pie I was imagining through the whole weekend. It turned out to be greater than in my imagination...
This recipe comes from my boyfriend, who gladly decided to make a bunch of spinach we had into a delicious spinach pie. Where we come from, Greece, it is very important to know how to make a good pie. Cheese pie, spinach pie, meat pie, you name it. Several locations in Northern Greece have a few of the most decadent and mouthwatering pies you will ever have in your life. The tradition calls for a woman to make her own phyllo pastry, roll it carefully making it really, really thin. My grandmother used to be such a traditional woman, making her own fyllo pastry for a lot of years, until her hands couldn't do it anymore. It's a tough task, especially for the new generation of Greek women, however, it was viewed as an important skill.
Our version on the blog is a simple one you can do very easily on a lazy Sunday morning. No need to kneed or call your grandmother to do anything. All you really need is some fresh and good quality spinach, as well as, fine feta cheese. The rest is up to magic...and some hidden ingredient!
Spinach, Leek and Feta pie (Σπανακόπιτα με φέτα)
ingredients
1 kg fresh spinach
2 medium leeks and 2 spring onions (finely chopped)
1 bunch of fresh dill (chopped)
1 clove of garlic (minced)
200gr feta (with sheep and goat milk)
2 tablespoons philadelphia cream cheese
1 package with 2 phyllo doughs (one for top and one for bottom)
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
egg yolk for the top
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
how do I make it?
1. Wash the spinach very well and put it in a big bowl. Toss inside some salt and using your hands mix very well the spinach with salt, so that all the spinach is covered. Let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Start by preparing the mixture for the pie. In the bowl with spinach, put the chopped leeks, spring onions, chopped dill and minced garlic. In another bowl, crumble the feta in small pieces and mix it with the cream cheese using a spoon. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to help the process. Pour inside the big bowl containing the spinach. Mix very well so that everything is combined and add two additional tablespoons of olive oil.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Using a medium pan, lather the bottom with some olive oil again and place the bottom phyllo layer. Use your hands to shape the dough in the shape of the pan, especially in the sides. Pour inside the spinach mixture, spreading it all over the surface of the pan.
4. Top the open pie with the top layer and try to shape it again on the sides of the pan. Perhaps there is some remaining dough on the sides. If you love dough in your pie, keep it. If not, use a knife to cut some of the remaining dough. Cover the top of the pie with some egg yolk first and then sprinkle the sesame seeds. Use a knife to cut the top dough horizontally and vertically as if you would take pieces of the pie out of it. This will hep the dough to bake and not overrise.
5. Bake the pie for 30 to 40 minutes depending on your oven. After 30 minutes check the pie to see if it's golden on top and if not bake some more.
6. Let the pie cool a little bit before you start eating it, because when the pie is warm it's not easy to get a piece.
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