Spinach in abundance was one of the first signs of spring when we had a big garden back in northeast Tennessee (where deer and the occasional bear or cow wandered by). Spinach has such a great, fresh green taste (even when it’s frozen). It’s a bright taste, too, when combined with dill, lemon, and feta in spanakopita (spinach feta pie).
Out of necessity
and choice I made a few changes to the original recipe. As a result it throws
together pretty quickly. The original calls for leeks instead of onions, 8
sheets of phyllo dough, and fresh spinach. There weren’t any leeks at the store,
hence the onions. And I decided to cheat with the puff pastry and frozen
spinach we already had in the freezer. The pie came out well enough that we
look forward to having cheater’s spanakopita again.
You’ll find a free,
downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions.
Cheater’s
Spanakopita
Adapted from Alexa
Weibel at The New York Times
Ingredients
3 tablespoons
unsalted butter (plus more to butter the skillet before assembling the pie)
1 large onion
(about 3 cups chopped)
6 garlic cloves,
chopped
Kosher salt and
black pepper
10 ounces frozen
spinach (thawed and squeezed to remove liquid)
3/4 cup chopped fresh
parsley
1/2 cup chopped
fresh dill
1/2 cup grated
Parmesan
1 lemon, zested and
juiced
Pinch of ground
nutmeg
2 large eggs,
beaten
6 ounces crumbled
feta
1 sheet frozen,
ready-to-bake puff pastry, thawed
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F with a rack in the middle position.
In a large (8- to 10-inch) cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer onion garlic mixture to a medium bowl. Let the skillet cool.
Stir thawed spinach into the onion and garlic until thoroughly combined. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
In a large bowl, stir together the parsley, dill, Parmesan, lemon zest and juice, and nutmeg.
Stir in the spinach mixture. Taste for salt and pepper (remembering that the feta you’re going to add next is salty).Stir in the eggs,
then gently fold in the feta (trying to leave the large pieces intact).
Wipe the cooled skillet
clean with a paper towel. Butter the bottom and sides. On a lightly floured
board, roll the puff pastry sheet into a square large enough to cover the
bottom and of the skillet and come at least partway up the sides so that you’ll
be able to fold the corners over the filling.
Spoon the
spinach-feta mixture into the pastry-lined skillet. Fold the corners over the
filling.
Cook over medium
heat on the stovetop for about 5 minutes to crisp the bottom crust. Transfer to
the middle rack of the oven. Bake until the pastry is golden brown, 20-25
minutes.
Remove from the oven
and let the pie sit for 10 minutes to cool and firm. Serve warm or at room
temperature.
🌸 click here for a free,
downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe
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Breaks Loose
book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop
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On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .
Dr.
Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an
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bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks
like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.
Allred
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somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.
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Happy reading!
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The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.
