Nice Yia Yia's Spanakopita

As many of you lot may already know, I am Greek. My grandmother (Yia Yia) yet has really rigid ties to her Greek roots, together with growing upwardly that was particularly noticeable inward her Greek cooking (not to advert her accent). Whenever nosotros visited her I was ever spoiled alongside baklava, loukoumades, kourabiedes, pastitsio, together with spanakopita.

Spanakopita has ever been my favorite. It's a hearty pastry made alongside filo dough together with filled alongside spinach, feta cheese, together with scallions. It bakes into flaky perfection together with melts inward your mouth. This care for is mostly served every bit an appetizer, but I'd endure lying if I said I haven't eaten iv or v pieces at in 1 lawsuit every bit a primary dish.

As a whole spanakopita is a pretty tardily dish to pose together, but you lot receive got to operate fairly speedily when using filo dough because it tin dry out out together with intermission apart. I tried to receive got detailed photos of the process, but my woman rear was working thence speedily only about of them turned out blurry. (She's the spanakopita expert.)

This recipe is special because it's been passed downwardly to me from Yia Yia. And I'm non exaggerating when I tell it's the BEST spanakopita recipe you lot volition ever find. Everyone who has ever tried it has gone crazy over it, together with my mom gets requests to arrive all the time.

YIA YIA'S SPANAKOPITA

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 packages of 12 ounce frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 16 ounces small-scale curd cottage cheese
• 1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 loving cup parmesan cheese
• 1 bunch of light-green onions, chopped (greens included)
• Salt together with pepper to taste (usually 1 teaspoon of each)
• 1 loving cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) melted
• 1 whorl of filo dough nine x xiv inward sheets of xx per whorl (You mostly notice filo dough inward the frozen foods department thence you lot must thaw it out inward the refrigerator)

DIRECTIONS

For the filling

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Butter a 9x13 pan
3. Drain together with squelch all excess H2O from the spinach. This is 1 of the most of import parts of successfully making spanakopita. If you lot don’t squelch out all the excess H2O you’ll destination upwardly alongside soggy spanakopita. My best advice for doing this is to allow it thaw inward a colander together with and thence squelch together with squelch the heck out of it. Once you lot intend you’ve squeezed it enough, house it betwixt newspaper towels together with squelch only about more!
4. Mix the eggs, cottage cheese, feta cheese, together with parmesan cheese together.
5. Add the drained spinach together with light-green onions to the egg together with cheese mixture together with mix again.
6. Add tabular array salt together with pepper to taste.

For the assembly

1. Remove the filo dough from the packaging, unroll it, together with house it betwixt two towels to expire on it cool together with moist throughout the process. If the filo dries out, it breaks apart.
2. Melt butter over depression estrus on the stove. When the butter has melted you lot volition run across that it has broken downwardly into three layers: a white froth, a golden-yellow liquid layer, together with a darker milky layer on the bottom. The golden-yellow layer is called clarified butter. You alone desire to role the clarified butter, thence spoon off the white froth on top. As far every bit the milky sediment layer on the bottom, only avoid it past times non sticking your pastry brush likewise deep into the pot.
3. Take a pastry brush together with brush a layer of clarified butter on the bottom of the 9x13 pan.
4. Add 1 canvas of filo dough to the bottom of the pan. Brush a layer of clarified butter on top of the sheet.
5. Add only about other canvas of filo dough together with brush to a greater extent than clarified butter on top.
6. Repeat this procedure until you’ve layered 10 sheets of filo dough.
7. Spread your spinach together with cheese mixture on top of the filo dough layer.
8. Repeat the procedure of layering unmarried filo dough sheets together with clarified butter until you’ve used the balance of the filo dough sheets from the bundle (this should endure at to the lowest degree 10 sheets).
9. Brush a layer of butter on top.
10. Bake for most fifty minutes; the top should endure golden brown.
11. Let cool earlier cutting.

The spinach subsequently it's been completely squeezed dry

Add the cheese together with egg mixture to the spinach

Mix it all up!

Make certain to withdraw the cloudy white foam

My woman rear using a pastry brush to to coat the pan alongside a layer of butter

Add 1 canvas of filo dough together with role a pastry brush to spread only about other layer of butter

After you lot receive got 10 filo sheets on the bottom every bit a base, add together the spinach together with cheese mixture on top

Make certain to spread this layer out evenly

Add 10 or to a greater extent than layers of filo sheets to the top of the spinach mixture, repeating the same butter process

This is what the spanakopita volition expect similar every bit shortly when you lot line it out of the oven

It should endure golden flaky

Cut upwardly the spanakopita into either foursquare or triangular pieces

Serve it every bit an appetizer to print all of your friends!

This recipe is dedicated to my wonderful woman rear together with Yia Yia