Greek Spanakopita Spiral Recipe
A classic Greek spinach pie, this authentic Greek spanakopita spiral recipe with spinach and feta cheese filling is a classic traditional dish from Greece made with phyllo (filo) dough, it’s baked into a spiral resembling a large coil pie.
Ingredients
- 1 Ib fresh or frozen spinach leaves
- 4 leeks white part sliced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 2 oz fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 8 oz Greek feta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 3tablespoon divided
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped for topping
- salt to taste
- pinch of white pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the spinach and place it into a strainer to drain excess water. I also recommend patting the spinach with a paper towel to remove all the excess water.
- Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a saucepan and heat on medium-low heat until hot. Reduce the heat to low, add the leeks, and crushed garlic, and saute them for 3-4 minutes or until softened.
- Gradually add the spinach in addition, as they break down and collapse into the mixture, then add the dill and stir. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- The mixture should have moist consistency, if there is too much liquid present in the mixture, remove some of it and discard it.
- Remove the spinach mixture from the heat and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, white pepper, salt, and, egg then mix together. Do not return the saucepan back to the heat.
- Finely crumble the feta cheese into a large bowl, then add the spinach mixture and mix it together.
- Prepare the Spanakopita Filo Dough (Phyllo): Preheat the oven to 360°F or 180°C, and grease a 9-inch round dish with butter or oil, a glass pie baking pan works well.
- Add the remaining olive oil into a bowl with a brush.
- Light dust a working surface with flour. Remove the filo pastry sheets from the refrigerator and lay one sheet onto the floured surface longest side facing you. Keep the other sheets covered, filo dough dries very quickly.
- Lightly brush the entire surface of the filo pastry sheet with olive oil.
- Spread about 3 heaped tablespoons of the spinach filling along the length (longest side) of the filo pastry leaving approximately one inch from the bottom of the pastry, and 1/4 inch from the sides unfilled.
- Carefully roll the filo tightly into a log shape until you reach the end of the pastry sheet.
- Coil the rolled pastry log and place it into the center of the baking dish.
- Repeat by making the spanakopita logs except for this time you wrap each log around the first coil in the center ending up with a large spiral.
- Brush the top of the Spanakopita spiral with olive oil.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the spinach pie is golden in color.
- Remove from the oven, toss some chopped fresh parsley on top, and serve hot.
- Enjoy your delicious homemade Greek Spanakopita.
