Greek Easter is coming up this weekend and I'll be eating this Spanakopita Pie in honor of my Greek ancestors!
My first intro to Greek Easter was waaaaay back in college when my roommate invited me to her families celebration. I went not knowing what to expect and OMG it was hands down the most amazing feast I have ever had. Puts Thanksgiving to shame if you ask me. The Spanakopita, the dips, the spreads, the lamb... all of it was out of this world amazing. Those Mediterranean flavors just SPEAK TO MY SOUL. Can we go back to Greece yet?? I'm ready to eat feta by the pound. I'll always remember the Spanakopita pie her mom made us forever and ever! It was more a slab pie with layers of buttery and flaky phyllo dough and I could have eaten the entire thing by myself. Tons of spinach, feta, dill, lemon... the works! Honestly you could use the filling and throw it into some pasta and it would be insanely delish!
I snagged this recipe from BA because it's the closest thing I could find to that pie from my college days and gave it a little bit of a Gaby spin (more cheese duh) and it's truly something we should all make and enjoy!
Spanakopita Pie
Ingredients
- 4 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 leeks, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 pound feta, crumbled
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup grated Mozzarella cheese
- ⅓ cup fresh basil, chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh dill, chopped
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and divided
- 12 14x9-inch sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed, room temperature
Instructions
- Wring the spinach as dry as humanly possible. Transfer spinach to a large bowl and break up into small pieces.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium and add the leek and onion, cook until translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add scallions and garlic and cook until tender, 2 minutes more and season with salt and pepper. Scrape into a bowl with spinach.
- Whisk together the egg, egg yolk, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl and add to the spinach mixture. Add feta, Parmesan, mozzarella basil, dill, and lemon zest and mix until evenly combined. Preheat oven to 350°
- Lightly brush the bottom and sides of 9 inch springform pan with butter. Working quickly, brush butter on 1 side of 1 phyllo sheet. Transfer phyllo, butter side up to the prepared pan, covering bottom of pan. Gently press and tuck sides of sheet into bottom edges of pan. Fold and ripple phyllo as needed to cover the bottom of pan. Repeat with 2 more phyllo sheets.
- Working quickly, brush butter on 1 side of another phyllo sheet. Transfer to pan, arranging butter side up and slightly off-center so long side of dough comes up and over side of pan, leaving a 2" overhang. Rotate pan slightly and repeat with another sheet so overhang covers another section of pan. Continue with remaining 7 sheets, rotating pan so there is overhang around the entire pan.
- Scrape spinach mixture into pan, pressing down firmly and smoothing top. Gently fold phyllo overhang over spinach mixture and continue to press until phyllo goes just below rim of pan. Don’t worry if phyllo breaks or tears; gather any broken pieces and arrange where spinach peeks through. You want the phyllo to look draped over the top with lots of waves and folds.
- Bake pie until phyllo is golden brown and slightly darker around the edges, 50–65 minutes. Let cool in pan 1 hour before removing the ring. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
Planning on making this on Saturday. Would this be ok to make a day ahead and take out in time to be room temp for serving or will it be too soggy? Thank you!!
might get a little soggy! but not too bad
Great recipe! I folded phyllo over the whole top making it look like an enclosed pie. Could probably use less butter to brush. This is a keeper and has become a staple dish!
I made this for my book club with rave reviews. It was beautiful and delicious!
I am, however, confused by the 3/4 cup melted unsalted butter. , divided ingredient. I used, maybe, 4 TBL butter to brush 12 phyllo sheets.
OMG Insta-live this shiz please!
All the Easter celebrations give us more opportunity to make all these yummy dishes!!
Thank you for posting in honour of our Greek Orthodox Easter! This is such a great mindedness spin to the traditional spanakopita! Will definitely try it this Easter and give my moms a run for her money!
This is awesome! Thanks so much for thinking of Greek Orthodox folks getting ready to feast on Sunday. I’m so ready for all the lamb and my mom is also making the traditional spanakopita. This is a fun spin with all the flavors!