Spanakopita

Spanakopita- Serves 12

Need a Meat free Monday idea? Try adding this delicious three cheese and onion spanakopita to your weekly menu. It’s a generous sized dish which will hopefully see you into the week with some left overs. Serve alongside a garden salad and you’ve got a healthy home cooked meal.

Ingredients.

500 grams of frozen spinach or kale (thawed).
2 leeks, thinly sliced.
1 large red onion, thinly sliced.
2 cloves of garlic, grated or crushed.
130g greek feta.
50g parmesan, finely grated.
2 eggs.
2 cups (500g) goats milk ricotta or regular ricotta.
2 Tbsp dried flaked onion.
3 Tbsp Tzatziki spice blend. If you can’t get a hold of that, use 1 Tbsp dried dill and 1 Tbsp dried parsley and 1 Tbsp dried mint.
1/4 tsp salt.
1/2 tsp lemon pepper mix. Or plain pepper.
6 sheets filo (110g).
1 Tbsp olive oil.
20g butter.
1 tsp caraway seeds.

Method.

Pre heat oven to 180C, and pull out your filo now if it needs to thaw.
Heat up a large skillet with the olive oil. Add the leek and onion, sauté for around 5 mins on medium heat, until translucent.
Add your garlic, herbs and spices and sauté for 2 mins.
Squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the spinach and add the spinach to the onions along with the ricotta, simmer until there is very little liquid left.
In a seperate bowl, add your parmesan and feta, combine until it resembles breadcrumbs. Crack in your 2 eggs and stir through.
Pull out a large rectangle glass, or ceramic, baking tray. Melt your butter and lightly baste your dish.
Once the onion mixture has cooled slightly, fold it through your bowl with egg and cheese. Place 1/2 that mixture onto your prepared dish and spread out evenly.
Take 1 sheet of filo, brush lightly with butter and place another sheet on top. Place those sheets on top of the mixture, allow sides to overhang.
Spoon out the remaining mixture and spread it out evenly over the filo. Fold your overhanging filo on top of your mixture.
Pull out another sheet of filo, brush half of it with butter and fold it over, place it on top of the mixture. Repeat with the remaining 3 sheets, brush the top sheet with butter and tuck in the edges. Lightly cut out your 12 squares. This will make it easier to cut once cooked. Sprinkle on caraway seeds and bake in the oven for around 50 mins, until nicely browned and firm to the touch.

Notes.

Have fresh herbs on hand? Absolutely use them. Fresh is always best!

Try adding a little lemon zest.

And if you really want to be indulgent, you could add extra parmesan and feta or any other cheeses. I’ve played around with seeing how low I could go without taking away from flavour, this is probably it! But keep in mind the calories will increase significantly as you add more.

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