Recipe - Spanikopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

This recipe is straight from the village, so it doesn't get any more authentic that this. Except, if you do what I today, and don't use filo but make it traditional pie style instead. Sorry to all the giagias out there :/

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches english spinach
• 1 bunch shallots
• 1 bunch dill
• 1 leek
• 300g fetta
• Poppy seeds
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• Salt
• ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp white pepper
• Olive oil
• filo pastry

Method

1. Pre-heat oven on high
2. Wash spinach and shallots and leek
3. Finely chop spinach and place in a large bowl (or sink) and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt
4. Generously coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat to medium
5. Add chopped shallots and leek and allow to saute
6. Add dill
7. Stir to mix ingredients for 5 minutes
8. Take off stove and allow to cool (5 minutes)
9. Add spinach (ensure you squeee all excess water out)
10. Add crumbled fetta
11. Add almost the same quantity of parmesan cheese
12. Stir thoroughly to combine all ingredients
13. Add 3 eggs and stir
14. Add grated nutmeg and white epper and stir
15. Coat base of baking tray with a drile of olive oil then use pastry brush (if you have one … not essential) to distribute
16. Brush 2 sets of filo with oil and coat the bottom
17. Pour in the mixture
18. Cover with six sheets of filo (following the same pattern as the base)
19. Sprinkle with poppy seeds
20. Put in oven reducing the heat to just under 200 degrees

This will take approx an hour to cook, keep checking it and if the top is browning too quickly, cover with aluminium foil