Spanakopita with feta cheese

“SPANAKOPITA!”

I love this moment from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, where Yiayia, sitting under a table at her great granddaughter’s high school’s college fair event, emerges from the tablecloth to cry, “Spanakopita!”  😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Greek spinach pie, spanakopita with feta cheese, is also called “Spanakotiropita.” I made this version for Easter dinner yesterday. It was a big hit with my family.
Spanakopita with feta cheese

Here’s the recipe for my spanakopita with feta cheese, adapted from my Mothers’ Hellenic Cuisine 1956 cookbook by Saints Constantine and Helen Ladies Society.

Spanakopita
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Spanakopita - Spinach Pie with butter recipe adapted from the Hellenic Cuisine cookbook by Sts. Constantine and Helen Ladies Society, Detroit MI 1956
Author:
Recipe type: savory pie
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 16 pieces
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. of frozen spinach
  • 2 small bunches of green onions
  • 1 lb. crumbled Greek feta cheese
  • 7 eggs, beaten
  • 1 lb. of butter
  • 1 box of frozen phyllo / filo pastry sheets (2 rolls per box, approximately 20 sheets per roll)
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. pepper
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. dried oregano
  • ½ tsp. dried basil
Instructions
  1. Day before baking - Allow spinach to thaw and drain over night in a colander (use a bowl underneath the colander to catch the moisture)
  2. Allow frozen phyllo to thaw in refrigerator overnight
  3. Next day - Preheat oven to 350° F
  4. Combine spinach, crumbled feta, green onions, beaten eggs and spices, and mix into a large bowl
  5. Melt butter and set aside
  6. Grease 9 x 13" pan
  7. Place 10 - 12 pastry sheets into pan brushing each with melted butter
  8. Spread spinach mixture on top of buttered pastry sheets
  9. Cover spinach mixture with 10 - 12 pastry sheets, each also brushed with melted butter
  10. Score the top of the pie to the size of desired pieces
  11. Bake at 350° F for one hour or until golden brown

 

And look who won the egg cracking contest this year. Good luck for me!

Spanakopita with feta cheese, The Egg Cracking Champion

Happy Easter! Kalo Pascha! Christos Anesti!

More of my Greek Easter blog posts and recipes here:

 

Watermelon and Feta Salad Revisited

One of my most popular blog posts on Kitoula’s Greek Food Journal is my quick and easy recipe for Watermelon and Feta Salad.

It’s a refreshing summer time classic and has just six simple ingredients:

  • watermelon – cut in bite size pieces
  • feta cheese – crumbled
  • red onion – sliced thin
  • mint leaves – small individual leaves or chiffonade
  • lemon juice
  • and honey.

Toss lightly in a bowl and serve.

For this watermelon and feta salad revisited blog post, I made a video!

And a big shout out to Lumen5 for the wonderful video editing application.

Street Eatzz Detroit Greektown Seasoning

Street Eatzz Detroit Greektown Seasoning captures the wonderful flavor of our historic district on Monroe Avenue. Since 1920 Greektown has been filled with restaurants, coffee houses, boutiques, and bakeries.StreetEatzz Greektown Seasoning

Detroit Greektown Seasoning is available online.

Mix it with olive oil and vinegar for an authentic Greek salad dressing. It is delicious added to roasted Greek potatoes with lemon.

Detroit Greektown Seasoning

Use it with slow roasted leg of lamb, braised in garlic and lemon to create a luscious sauce. Have you tried my lamb burger with feta recipe? Mix it right into the ground lamb.

Detroit Greektown Seasoning

Add it to Greek style green beans with tomato and stew until the beans are meltingly tender.

Detroit Greektown Seasoning

You can find many dishes like the ones I just mentioned at the well-known restaurants along Monroe Avenue in Greektown including The Golden Fleece, New Parthenon, and Pegasus Taverna.

Oh! And don’t miss the parade down historic Monroe Avenue to celebrate Greek Independence Day held every year in the spring.
Street Eatzz Detroit Greektown Seasoning   

All the Greek Festivals!

If you like Greek food and you’d like to take your family for a bit of fun, Greek Festivals are just the ticket. Here I have listed some, but not all the Greek festivals that I know and love.

Early in the summer in Bloomfield Hills Michigan, St. George’s had its Ya’ssoo Greek Festival!

St George Yassoo Fest, All the Greek Festivals
Photo by George Dzahristos

St. Nick’s Opa! Fest in Troy is the largest on-going Greek festival in the metro Detroit area. This is one of my favorites. My friend, blogger, cookbook author, and Chef, Peter Minaki of Kalofagas has given cooking demonstrations at this festival for the last few years.

St .Nicks Opa Fest, All the Greek Festivals
Photo by HOUR Detroit

This weekend, Holy Trinity in Grand Rapids Michigan hosts Yassou! Greek Cultural Festival. I wrote about this festival, and my Greek cousins, in 2011.

Souvlakia, All the Greek Festivals
Photo by Kitoula

Their motto is Eat! Dance! Be Greek!

Yassou! Fest, All the Greek Festivals
Photo by Kitoula

And because Greece is one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world, you might add, Drink!

Opa Kitoula! All the Greek Festivals

Yamas!