Arguably the most famous of Greek dishes, no gathering of Greeks is complete without Spanakopita. This is one of those recipes that our mothers and aunts know how to make with their eyes closed. They don’t measure anything, and when you ask them how much of an ingredient to use they say things like “αρκετό” (enough) or “μπόλικο” (a lot). Not very helpful, right? Our Mom was starting to get a little annoyed with us while she made this Spanakopita because we kept stopping her to measure things. You will see her beautiful hands in a lot of these pictures. Those hands make a mean Spanakopita. 

For the filling you’ll need spinach, leeks, scallions, dill, parsley, eggs and, of course, feta cheese.

Split the leek lengthwise and rinse it under cold water to remove any dirt. Then split it lengthwise again, and chop it up. Chop the scallions while you’re at it.

Saute the leek and scallions in olive oil until they are soft, then set the pan aside to let them cool a bit.

Add spinach leaves to a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and massage the leaves to soften them up and wilt them.  We used baby spinach here.  If you use regular spinach you will want to remove the thick stems and chop the leaves up a bit.  You can also use frozen spinach. Just defrost it first and then squeeze out all of the excess liquid. So many options.

Crumble 2/3 of the feta into the spinach. Note how the spinach looks after it has been  “massaged”. It is wilted and has reduced in volume.

Chop up the parsley and dill.

Add the chopped parsley and dill to the spinach, along with the sautéed leeks and scallions. Combine very well and then drizzle with olive oil. Beat eggs in a small bowl until just combined and add to spinach mixture. Combine well and set spinach mixture aside.

Grab your pan.  We used a 13×9 inch pan with 2 inch sides. Brush the pan with olive oil and then lay 2 sheets of phyllo across the bottom of the pan. The phyllo should hang over the sides of the pan. Brush the phyllo with more olive oil, and then repeat with 2 more sheets of phyllo. See our post on Tiropitakia for more detail about working with phyllo dough. You will be using whole sheets of phyllo here, so no need to cut them in advance.  If you are not as quick with phyllo dough as our Mom, you should cover the sheets that are not in use with a slightly damp cloth so that they don’t dry out. 

Pour the spinach mixture into the pan, then take the rest of the feta cheese and sprinkle it evenly over the spinach.

Fold the overhanging phyllo 2 sheets at a time into the pan to partially cover the spinach mixture. Brush with olive oil.  Repeat with the remaining 2 sheets of overhanging phyllo.

Fold one sheet of phyllo in half and lay it over the exposed spinach. Brush with olive oil.

Cover the entire pan with 1 full sheet of phyllo.  Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut around the edges of the phyllo so that it is just slightly larger than the internal perimeter of the pan and then use a knife to tuck the edges of the phyllo neatly down into the sides of the pan. Brush with olive oil. Repeat with 3 more sheets of phyllo, brushing with olive oil between each layer.  Sprinkle a little water over the entire pan to help the sheets of phyllo stick together when you cut into the spanakopita.

Before you pop this in the oven, you need to score the phyllo (cut it, but not very thoroughly).  You can make the portions as large or small as you would like.  We made 3 horizontal cuts to create 4 rows, and then made vertical cuts on the diagonal to create diamond shaped pieces.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until it looks as golden as this and your house smells like Greek heaven.  Let it cool for about 15 minutes before cutting, using the lines you cut before baking as your guide.

Spanakopita can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature.

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Source: Athena Merianos

Original article: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie).

After the gluttony of Thanksgiving, does anyone else feel the need to ingest nothing but vegetables for the next couple of days?  If so, here is a recipe for you — but first you should understand something about Greek vegetables.  They are shall we say “cooked through”.  Never crisp or crunchy. When we were kids we might have described them as “mushy”, but now that we are all grown up and know better we use the term “velvety” instead.

Here’s how you make them… 

You’ll need green beans, onion, either fresh or canned tomatoes, parsley, salt & pepper

Saute a diced onion in some olive oil until soft.

Add the green beans to the pot and sauté for about 5 minutes, then add just a little water and cover.

Peel a couple of fresh tomatoes, dice them, and add some salt. Let them sit a bit.  Or just use about a cup of canned crushed tomatoes. See the complete recipe below for more about fresh vs canned tomatoes. It’s fascinating.

Add the tomatoes to the green beans. Combine well, then cover and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Before serving, sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Kali Orexi !

Fasolakia Yahni  (Green beans in tomato sauce) Serves 4-6

Source: Athena Merianos

Original article: Fasolakia Yahni (Green Beans in Tomato Sauce).

 

Original article: Tiropitakia (Phyllo Cheese Triangles).

Here it is…our first attempt at documenting our family recipes. Between work schedules, kids activities, and our Mom’s church volunteering, it took us awhile to  get this first post off the ground.  So, when we finally found the time and had to decide what to make it boiled down to two things: something that wouldn’t take all day, and something that our kids would eat.  If we were going to take the time to cook, document the recipe, and take pictures, we definitely didn’t want to have to make dinner that night!  This isn’t the prettiest or the most well-known Greek dish out there, but it is something that we ate all the time growing up.  A weeknight staple, if you will. It requires basic ingredients and doesn’t take long to come together.  Plus, our kids love these and call them ‘Golden Meatballs’.  What more can you ask for? 

Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe, including modifications to make this egg-free if you happen to love someone with an egg allergy.

Here’s how you make it:

Boil some water in a small saucepan.  Add the rice just until the water starts to boil again, then drain it and set it aside.

Saute a chopped onion until it is translucent and soft, then add it to the rice.

Add chopped parsley to the rice and onion. Stir it around to let the mixture cool.

Add 3 cups water, salt and pepper to the pot in which you sautéed the onion.  Let it simmer while you make the meatballs.

Add the parley, rice and onion to ground beef and combine well.  Add one egg and some olive oil and mix some more.

Form into meatballs, well actually long, thin barrel shapes that look like this.

Ready?

Add the meatballs to the simmering water one at a time.  You want to go slowly so that the water temperature doesn’t drop.

The water should just barely cover the meatballs.  Add more (boiling) water to the pot if you need to.

Cook covered for about 30 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and look like this.

Then drain all the liquid into a small saucepan. Time to make the sauce.

Beat eggs with an electric mixer.

Add lemon juice, continue to mix.

Add the reserved warm broth a little at a time while you mix.  If you add it too fast, you’ll get scrambled eggs which is definitely not the desired effect. Keep mixing until it is frothy and creamy like this.

Pour sauce over the meatballs, and serve.  Like we said, not the prettiest but it tastes great. Promise.

Youvarlakia (Golden Meatballs)   Serves 4-6 

Source: Athena Merianos

Ingredients

Original article: Youvarlakia.