Spanakopita is a classic Greek dish which can either be served as a large pie, or in this case, as individual little snacks. The filling is really moreish and the filo pastry makes the whole thing much lighter and crispier than traditional English style pies, which makes it an ideal starter or snack. I’ve gone very slighly off piste by adding a few additional herbs and spices but I think they work really well.
Makes: 10
Cooking time: Approx 20 mins
INGREDIENTS
- 1 roll of shop-bought filo pastry (containing 12 sheets or so)
- Approximately 150g of fresh spinach leaves
- 150g of good quality feta cheese
- A handful of fresh mint leaves
- A handful of fresh coriander
- A handful of fresh parsley
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- A tbspn of cumin seeds
- A tbspn of coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes (optional)
- 1 egg
- 150g of melted butter
METHOD:
Start by making the mixture for the filling. Remove the stalks from the spinach leaves, then chop them up and add them to a large bowl. Ideally try and chop the leaves as finely as you can, but don’t worry too much if you’ve got a few chunky bits in there as it will wilt down once it’s in the oven. Do the same with the feta and the fresh herbs, then crush in the garlic clove and add your chili flakes. In a pestle and mortar (or a spice grinder) grind up the cumin and coriander seeds with a bit of salt, again as fine as you can, and add it to the mixture. Now crack in one of the eggs and add a glug of olive oil and mix everything together well with a fork.
Now take out the filo pastry sheets. Depending on what size they come in, you’ll want to cut them in half length ways so you end up with roughly 12 x 25cm sheets. Don’t worry if they’re slightly bigger or smaller, it’s not a big deal. Lay two of the sheets on top of each other (cover the rest with a damp tea towel as the pastry dries out really quickly.) and brush liberally with melted butter . Take a decent spoonful of your mixture and place it on one end of the pastry, a few centimeters from the edge. Starting at the same end, fold the pastry over diagonally once and then continue folding the pastry over on itself diagonally until you get to the end and end up with a triangular shaped pie (see images below) Brush the whole parcel with a little bit more melted butter and place on a baking tray. Repeat this process until you run out of pastry or filling. Sprinkle a little sea salt over the top and place in a preheated oven (190°C/375°F/gas mark 5) for about 20-25 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then stuff your face!
