Francisco’s Spanakopita

I fell in love with spanakopita while working on Greece, and unlike what most people, think most of the ones I ate were made with an olive oil pastry, which I guess is less complicated to do than filo.

I fry my onions till they are copper colour to add sweetness and contrast to the salty feta.

Pastry:

1 Kg Flour

500ml Warm Water

60ml Olive Oil

10g Salt

Filling:

1 Bunch Silverbeet

1/2 Kg Feta

4 Eggs

6 Brown Onions, chopped

1 Bunch Dill

1 Bunch Mint

A Handful of Sorrel

Salt & White Pepper

Method:

FOR PASTRY:

1. Mix and knead ingredients until smooth and elastic, wrap and rest in the fridge.

FOR THE FILLING:

1. Fry onions in a heavy bottom pot with olive oil and a bit of salt. Start with high heat, then medium and keep stirring and adding oil if necessary until golden brown.

2. Add silverbeet to the pan and fry a bit longer.

3. Take off the heat and transfer to a large bowl. To the bowl, add chopped dill, mint and sorrel, 4 eggs, and crumble the feta; combine, taste and season.

4. Remove the pastry from the fridge, and divide into two portions. Stretch half the pastry and lay in a baking tray: I use a 34cm x 25cm tray.

5. Lay filling evenly across the base, then stretch the other half of the pastry, lay on top of the filling and close the edges, brushing with egg, and bake in a hot oven 200ºC for 30 mins.

6. Serve hot or room temp with wedges of lemon.