Spanakopita Diablo
I decided to go out on a limb last weekend and make something that I’ve never made before, spanakopita. Hell, I’ve never even seen it made before. The definiton of spanakopita is:
A Greek spinach pie made with layers of phyllo and a filling of seasoned spinach, onions and scallions, feta, and sometimes eggs.
Of course I added my own ingredients to the mix. Marie Sharp’s Beware Hot Sauce was the chosen sauce to spice up my spanakopita, but I’m sure you could adjust the recipe below to include any hot sauce that you favor or at least have on hand.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Marie Sharp’s Hot Sauce (I chose Beware)
Garlic Cloves (minced) I used 8. You can use more or less.
2 medium onions (minced)
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (keep liquid)
2 tablespoons dried parsely
8 ounces feta cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 jumbo egss, beaten
1 cup melted margarine
1 package frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Step 1: Prepare Onions & Garlic
Heat olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. I used our new food processor unit to mince up the onion, garlic and hot sauce. Once those are minced, saute for about 3 minutes or until the onions are transparent. Add in a little of the reserved liquid, along with the parsely. Simmer mixture until the liquid is almost gone. Let cool.
Step 2: Mixing Ingredients
In a large bowl, mix together the chopped spinach, feta cheese and remaining dry seasonings. Add the cooled pepper mixture and eggs, then stir well. Set aside. Now would be a good time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 3: Layering the Phyllo
Now this is the most difficult step, the phyllo dough is paper thin. First generously brush a large baking pan with melted margarine. Then begin layering the phyllo sheet, one sheet at a time. Brush each layer generously with the melted margarine. Layer about 10 sheets on the bottom of the pan. Then pour in the spinach mixture.
Next, fold over the phyllo dough and brush with margarine.
Now, layer on the remaning phyllo sheets, brushing each with margarine. Do not flatten the sheets as you go, the air bubbles will make your meal that much better.
Step 4: Spicy Spanakopita
After baking for about 1 hour, we now have the finished product. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Adding the Marie Sharp’s Hot Sauce was a good call. I added about 3 tablespoons, which added just enough heat to every bite.
