Category: Greek Recipes

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
 
Print
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
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

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:

 

Greek Lagana Bread

Greek Lagana is a flat, sometimes oval, or rectangular shaped bread that is very traditional and it is the custom in Greece to baked it today. Today is Kathari Deftera or Clean Monday, and marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent.

But… ¯\_(”)_/¯ it’s delicious, so go ahead and bake it whenever. It’s perfect for appetizer recipes calling for crustini.

Here’s my “step-by-step” of how I made Lagana today from an adapted recipe by Greek Chef Diane Kochilas. A printable version is at the bottom of this post.

Greek Lagana Bread

First, it’s a good idea to read through the recipe, and then gather and measure all the ingredients.

Greek Lagana Bread

In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the flour in warm water. Let it stand covered for 15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam and bubble.

Greek Lagana Bread

In another larger bowl, combine 7 cups flour with the salt. Make a well in the center with your hand and pour in the oil and the yeast mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are combined. You might want to also use your hands.

Turn the dough out on to a counter or table dusted with flour and knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough feels smooth to the touch but not sticky.

Greek Lagana Bread

Shape the dough into a ball, brush it with oil and allow it to rise in a covered bowl for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and knead it for another 6 or 7 minutes. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Using a rolling pin, or your hands, shape the dough out on to two lightly oiled, or parchment lined, baking sheets into flat ovals about 15 inches long and about 6 inches wide.

Greek Lagana Bread

Brush with oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and allow it to rise again until your finger poked in the bread leaves an indentation without springing back.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees during the final rise.

Using your index finger, poke holes across the surface of the bread (about every 2 inches). Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

Remove and place on a rack to cool.

Greek Lagana Bread

Oh, how I love the smell of just baked bread.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Greek Lagana Bread
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Clean Monday marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent. Greek Lagana is a flat, oval shaped bread that is a very traditional and to be baked only on this day. This recipe is adapted from "The Food and Wine of Greece" by Diane Kochillas
Author:
Recipe type: Baking bread
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 2 loaves
Ingredients
  • 3 envelopes active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 7 to 8 cups bread flour
  • 2¼ cups warm water
  • 1 tbsp. salt
  • 5 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • Sesame seeds for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. In a medium work bowl, dissolve the yeast, sugar, and ¼ cup of the flour in the warm water.
  2. Let stand covered for 15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam and bubble.
  3. In a large work bowl, combine 7 cups flour with the salt.
  4. Make a well in the center with your hand and pour in the oil and the yeast mixture.
  5. Mix well with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are combined.
  6. Turn dough out on to a counter or table dusted with flour and knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough feels smooth to the touch but not sticky.
  7. Shape the dough into a ball, brush it with oil and allow it to rise in a covered bowl for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.
  8. Punch the dough down and knead it for another 6 or 7 minutes. Shape it into 2 equal loaves. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out on to two lightly oiled baking sheets into flat ovals about 15 inches long and about 6 inches wide.
  9. Brush with oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and allow to proof (rise) again until a finger poked in the bread leaves an indentation without springing back. Preheat oven to 450 degrees during the final rise.
  10. Using your index finger, poke holes across the surface of the bread (about every 2 inches). Bake for 15 – 20 minutes
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Want to read my other posts about Lenten foods? Here are a few:

 

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of my Kitoula.com visitors! Merry Christmas Santa Smiley I can’t believe another year has past and I still (occasionally) keep up this blogging thing I started in August of 2009.

Here’s the latest holiday family photo of me, Yianni and Rahbi. 

And yes, of course I made koulouria with Max and Ben.  Here’s some proof of that on my Instagram profile. I spend more time on Instagram these days. I think that’s true for a lot of us. Be sure to follow me there! 

You are special today ? Merry Christmas! ????????????????

A post shared by ?? ?? ? Kitoula ? ? ???? ?? ?? (@kitoula) on

I will try to capture some pics of our annual New Year’s Eve lobster dinner. Stay tuned. I’m looking forward to sharing that with you. Merry Christmas Santa Smiley Merry Christmas treeMerry Christmas Santa Smiley

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.