Spanokopita

Spanokopita

1/2 cup olive oil
1 bunch chopped scallions, white and green parts
2 (10 ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I usually use about 1 teaspoon dried)
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
40 sheets (1 box) frozen phyllo dough (defrosted overnight in the refrigerator)
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup plain dry breadcrumbs (I usually use Italian flavored bread crumbs)

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and add the scallions. Cook 5 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the scallions, dill, eggs, feta, salt, and pepper and mix together.

Keep the phyllo dough sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel. Unfold 1 sheet of the phyllo dough. Brush the sheet with melted butter and sprinkle with a few breadcrumbs. Repeat the process by laying a second sheet of phyllo dough over the first sheet, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs until you have used 10 sheets. Spoon ¾ cup of the spinach mixture into a sausage shape along one edge of the phyllo dough. Roll it up. Brush the top with butter and score the roll into 1-inch rounds. Place it on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all the pastry and filling have been used.

Place in a 400º oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Serve warm.

*My only major modification to this recipe is that I like to make the Spanokopita into triangle shapes. To do this, I follow the same method as above but only use 5 sheets of phyllo. Once you have the last sheet down, butter it and then cut all the sheets into four equal strips (cutting from long edge to long edge of the dough). Then place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach filling in the corner of one of the strips and then fold up flag style to create the triangle. Brush the top with butter and sprinkle with a few breadcrumbs then bake as listed above.