The Weekend Chef: Spanakopita (Recipe Repeat)

I know, I posted this recipe last month, when my husband made this for our Greek-themed supper club dinner.  I really loved it so much and we had leftover phyllo, so I asked him to make it again!  It was just as good the second time around and according to him, really easy to make.  So I'm posting this again, in case you missed it the first time!  The kids ate this much better the first time that they had it.  Because my husband and I enjoy it so much it's getting another two thumbs up rating!

Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)
recipe adapted from allrecipes.com - by SILVERWOLF

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
8 sheets phyllo dough
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan.

2.Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3.In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.

Mommy & Daddy Rating: two thumbs up!

The Weekend Chef: Spanakopita

My husband made two side dishes for our Greek themed Supper Club dinner.  He made a Greek orzo salad and then he made this spanakopita.  I think I've had spanakopita only in small triangle puff pastry form, passed around as an hors d'oeuvres at weddings and such.  We don't go out for Greek all that often and when we do, we've never ordered spanakopita.  Well, I personally loved this dish!  The spinach had such great flavor from the cheeses, onion, and garlic.  My husband said that it was pretty easy to make.  The hardest for him was defrosting the spinach (we used two boxes of frozen) and squeezing all of the excess water out, which took close to ten minutes.  My son loved the phyllo and ate his serving all up! We have left over phyllo dough and I've already put in a request for The Weekend Chef to make this again!

Spanakopita
recipe adapted from allrecipes.com - by SILVERWOLF

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boxes of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and excess water wrung out
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
8 sheets phyllo dough
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan.

2.Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3.In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.
 
Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Greek Easter Cookies from Smyrna

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the baklava that made for my supper club's Greek themed dinner.  So, just in case I made these cookies to bring too.  The original recipe, posted below, yields 5 dozen cookies!  So, I halved the recipe, which still left me with a ton left over.  These cookies turned out to be a bit dry for my liking.  If I was a tea drinker, these might be nice softened up by dunking them in hot tea.  Effort wise, these cookies were not worth it.  Each cookie had to be hand rolled into worm-like shapes and then folded into S like shapes.  The orange zest did give them a nice flavor.  However, I will not be making these again!

Greek Easter Cookies from Smyrna
allrecipes.com -  by Rosina

Yields:  60 cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup milk
8 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 egg

Directions:
1.Sift together flour and baking powder and set aside. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each one. Add milk and flour.

2.Work with the hands until dough is smooth. Add grated orange rind. Dough should be stiff so add additional flour if needed.

3.Break off small portions of dough and roll out into pencil-size strips about 11 inches long. Fold each strip into thirds, sideways, and press lightly together at ends.

4.Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 18 to 20 minutes.

Family Rating:  So-so.

Baklava

This weekend we had our monthly Supper Club get together.  This month's theme was Greek food.  I decided to make dessert this month.  Of course, when I did a search for Greek desserts, baklava always came up.  I didn't think that I liked this but since it's the dessert you think of when you think of Greece, I figured that I HAD to make it.  I also made some cookies (that recipe is in the next post!) just in case.  Well, what I realized from making this is that I hate working with phyllo dough BUT I do like baklava!  This dessert was much easier than I thought it would be to make.  Although I haven't had baklava all that much, I believe it's supposed to be sweet, which this recipe definitely was. For me, it was an addicting sweet, where I was eating the leftovers up like they were candy!  My daughter on the other hand didn't enjoy them, saying they were "too sweet" for her.  Just to note, I only used 1/2 of the 16 oz. package of phyllo dough and only 1/2 cup of butter.

Baklava
allrecipes.com - by NEONWILLIE

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped nuts
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

2.Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

3.Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

4.Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

5.Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Family Rating:  1 1/2 thumbs up.