Spanakopita

Question: What does one do with a whole box of defrosted phyllo dough? 
Answer: Make Spanakopita and lots of it if you like appetizer portions.

Recently, one of us accidentally left the freezer ajar over night, defrosting everything within its usually frosty confines, including a brand new, unopened box of phyllo sheets. I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly how many sheets are in a new box, but I don't think I'm far off if I said close to 35 or 40. That's a lot of phyllo and the only thing we could think of to use all that phyllo was Spanakopita. We made it once years ago and loved these small, flakey pockets of spinach and cheese. They freeze really well which is also a blessing as only two sheets of phyllo are needed to make three appetizer-size pastries - you do the math. So now we're set for hors d'oeuvres for the holidays. Some of the steps may sound a bit tricky so Peter decided to take some pictures to hopefully aid you in the process. 

Spanakopita
Makes about 30 pastries

1-2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound fresh baby spinach or 2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled (about 2 cups)
Juice of one lemon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, if desired
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
One sleeve of phyllo sheets (12- by 9-inches), thawed. (There are 2 sleeves to a box, each sleeve having close to 20 sheets of phyllo.)
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If using fresh spinach: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then cook the spinach, stirring, until wilted and tender, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of spinach to remove as much liquid as possible (there's no way around this, this is the best way to get the liquid out). Coarsely chop spinach.

If using frozen chopped spinach, allow it to thaw in a colander, then squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible.

• Transfer the spinach to a large bowl; stir in the feta cheese, lemon juice, nutmeg (if using), salt, and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 375℉.
• Melt 1 stick butter in a small saucepan, keep the other at the ready, if needed.
• Open the sleeve of phyllo sheets, roll it open in a sheet pan. Cover the phyllo stack with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and then a dampened kitchen towel. Use two sheets of plastic as one is too flimsy and sticks to itself; two together are sturdier and are only interested in one another.

• Take 1 phyllo sheet from stack and arrange on work surface with the shortest side nearest you. (Keep the remaining sheets covered with the plastic and damp towel at all times to avoid drying the sheets out and thus rendering them nearly useless - certainly for spanakopita.)

• Brush the sheet with some melted butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and brush with more butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack into 3 strips (roughly 3- by 12-inches).

• Put a heaping teaspoon of filling near 1 corner of a strip on an end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip (like a flag), maintaining the triangle shape.

• Put triangle, seam side down, on a large baking sheet and brush top with melted butter.

• Continue making triangles in the same manner, until you have used all of the spinach mixture and/or the phyllo.
• Bake the spanakopita triangles in the middle of the oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly.

• Freeze if you are not using them in the next three days. Reheat frozen spanakopitas in a 325℉ oven for 10-15 minutes; do NOT thaw.

Note: This recipe is an amalgamation of over a dozen recipes I found in various cookbooks and on the internet. I should mention that one Epicurious recipe said "Pastry triangles can be formed, but not baked, 3 days ahead. Arrange in 1 layer in a heavy-duty sealed plastic bags, then freeze. Bake frozen pastries (do not thaw) in same manner as above."

 

Comments

[Martha Pierce]

Thanks for this. They look wonderful. Spanakopita is our daughter's favorite thing to eat. Rumor has it she will be home for Christmas so this will be on the menu for sure.