Spanakopita, or "Why I'm Surprised Anyone Dated Me in College"

When I was in college I was obsessed with the Greek spinach feta pie also known as spanakopita. I loved eating it and I even loved saying it. So much that in my first on campus apartment there were black and white pictures of me saying the word "spanakopita", like a series of pictures,  in the living room as decoration.  Because I had just discovered The Food Network and was a giant nerd.  Not like the cool, sophisticated woman I've become.

Anyway, I've always wanted to make it but as previously stated, baking pastries kind of scares me, so it never occurred to me that I would ever grow up to have a blog where I forced myself to cook food that I hadn't tried before and that in that blog I would make the very food item that once was displayed on our living room wall sophomore year of college.  DREAMS DO COME TRUE!

Recipe #21: Spanakopita

Choice of libation: DRY Cucumber Soda. It was a muggy day and my brother, Bobby, and I wanted something refreshing and cool.  I just had it over ice and it was sweeter than I was expecting it to be.  Not unpleasant.  Next time, I'll add gin.  

Choice of music: Bobby wanted to listen to a British Electronic group called Clean Bandit.  It's really good pop, with nice hooks.  I especially liked "Rather Be." 

Bobby took this shot. Isn't it artsy with the angles and the action and the whatnot? 

It is mainly to show you that I now have blue nail polish.

Mmmm...fresh dill, green onions and parsley. We start out with these glorious greens. 

Yeah.  I took a picture of my brother taking a picture of what we just put in a bowl. 

Isn't he cute, though?

The recipe called for fresh steamed spinach, but...

We folded in the amount of feta the recipe called for but it looked wrong. So we added 1/2 cup goat cheese. FOR CALCIUM.

I keep forgetting to buy a pastry brush because I only do recipes once a year that call for it.  Oops.  Anyway, we ended up brushing a paper towel with some olive oil then patting that onto the phyllo dough.  BECAUSE WE'RE GENIUSES. And also I had LOOKED IT UP ON THE INTERNET.

 I still didn't think we had enough cheese, but at this point we were both hangry and wanted to get this in the oven already.

With two people in the kitchen, Pippin knew her chances of catching food in her mouth had doubled.

After layering olive oiled phyllo dough sheets, we packed in the spinach filling. 

I know. It doesn't look like much of anything - this was right before we put it in the oven.

In the end it did LOOK like the stuff I order at Greek restaurants.  I will say this recipe was really basic and when I make it again, I will fold caramelized shallots and roasted garlic into the mix, with lemon juice and zest and maybe a bit of red pepper.  But, I mean. I'm not gonna not eat it.  And I still really enjoy saying it: SPA-NA-KO-PI-TA!

stolen from...

closetcooking.com

2 pounds spinach, steamed, squeezed, drained and chopped

1 cup feta, crumbled

1/4 cup dill, chopped

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup green onions, sliced

3 eggs, lightly beaten

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

12 sheets phyllo dough

Mix the spinach, feta, dill, parsley, green onions, eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Brush the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan with olive oil.

Brush the top of a sheet of phyllo dough with olive oil and place it in the pan. (You may have to cut the phyllo dough to fit the pan.) Repeat until you have 6 layers.

Place the spinach mixture on top of the phyllo dough.

Brush the top of a sheet of phyllo dough with olive oil and place it on the spinach. Repeat until you have 6 layers.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown on top, about 30-50 minutes.