Spanakopita

I continually get requests to make one thing:  spanakopita.   I've made it countless times and in quite a few family kitchens at this point, and it's always a hit.  It takes some time to assemble but it's really not that difficult to make, and it serves crowd so the effort is well worth it. I just made it this past weekend as one of my contributions to a Mediterranean feast with friends. With permission from my mother in law, Kathy, here is her mother Helen's recipe, as shared with me years ago.

Recipe by Helen Stavrakas as shared by Kathy Georgakis

Ingredients

• 5 packages of frozen chopped spinach
• 3 bunches of fresh green onions
• 3 egg whites or 2 eggs and 1 egg white
• 2 large leeks or several small ones
• 1 handful of fresh dill (roughly 1/3 cup)
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• At least 1 pound feta cheese, cut into small chunks
• 1 stick of butter melted to brush between the sheets
• I pound of phyllo dough - #4 preferred

Instructions

1. Boil a large pot of water. Add the frozen spinach in the water to thaw, then put it in a strainer to get most of the water out. Squeeze it to make it pretty dry.
2. Mix all the above ingredients in a very large bowl.
3. In a very large rectangular pan (9" x 13" works well), brush a little butter on bottom of pan. 
4. Carefully add the first phyllo sheet. Add butter to that sheet and add another. Use 5 sheets to form the base of the spanakopita.
5. Add half of the spinach mixture.
6. Repeat with 5 more phyllo sheets.
7. Add rest of the spinach mixture.
8. Add 5 more phyllo sheets on top.
9. Mix 1 egg, 2-3 tablespoons olive little grated feta cheese and brush this on topof the top layer of phyllo.
10. Pre-cut through the top layers of phyllo dough to form square pieces before baking .
11. Cook in preheated 375◦ oven for 45 to 60 minutes, removing when a golden-brown color.

Notes:

1. People always mention a fear of working with phyllo.  I've found it helpful to 1) have everything ready before I open the package, 2) cover the phyllo with a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper followed by a damp dishtowel while I work, replacing it each time I take a sheet of phyllo, and 3) work quickly in assembling the dish so the dough does not dry out before you have finished.
2. Feta cheese may be the one item on the planet that is a good deal at Whole Foods.  I get the 365 brand, which is a pound for about $6.99.  I can spend 2-3 times that if I buy it at Harris Teeter, and it's not as good.
3. Over the years, I have learned to cut the squares a bit smaller.  A small piece of spanakopita is actually quite filling.
4. I can only find the #4 phyllo at a Greek store.  If I don't have time to go to the Greek store, which is not convenient to my home, I get whatever I find in the freezer section of the grocery store and it always works just fine.
5. You can use the same recipe to make spanakopita triangles intead of the pan version.  Just cut the phyllo sheets into halves or thirds lengthwise, place a spoonful of the mixture at one end and folding it to create the triangle.  There are numerous videos on YouTube illustrating this, but if you ever folded a note into a football before passing it to a friend as a child, the technique is almost exactly the same.
6. This freezes well both before and after baking.  I've assembled and frozen it several times and then baked it the day I wished to serve it. I make it frequently when visiting my grandmother in Florida and she quickly puts the lion's share of the cooked dish into the freezer for later enjoyment.