Pie with spinach and feta cheese from sunny Greece. Spanakopita - Greek pie with cheese and spinach, step-by-step recipe Layered snail pie with spinach

I like Greek cuisine, it is somehow very close to me in spirit and somewhat similar to Caucasian cuisine - my favorite. I like the tastes of pickled cheeses, olives, charcoal-grilled meats, the aromas of various herbs and everything that is unique to this land.

Today I want to offer a recipe for the Greek Spanakopita pie with spinach and feta cheese, which all housewives in Greece know and prepare. Of course, every family has its own cooking nuances, some secret additives, but we prepare the basic version.

You can use fresh or frozen spinach for the pie. The cheese should have a sour and salty taste, so it goes better with unleavened spinach. In Greece, it is customary to add leeks to the filling. In our country, this type of onion costs the price of an airplane, so we take regular onions.

Combine eggs with milk, add salt, pepper and beat well with a fork until combined.

Keep frozen spinach on low heat until completely thawed.

Fry the onions in a couple of tablespoons of oil.

Squeeze the thawed spinach from the liquid and cool slightly.

Combine the fried onions and spinach.

Pour the eggs into the filling, reserving a couple of spoons for brushing the pie.

Crumble the pickled cheese. I use soft feta, but it is better if the cheese is denser in structure. Lightly mix the filling and add salt if necessary. Since the feta is quite salty, I did not add any more salt to the filling.

Divide the dough into two parts. Place a layer of thin puff pastry into a convenient form, distributing it according to the size of the form, and spread all the filling on top. My dough was already thinly rolled out and rolled into a roll. All I have to do is unfold it.

Cover with a second layer of dough and carefully seal the edges, tucking them inward. You can make curly tucks along the edge of the dough for beauty.

Cut the pie with a knife, being careful not to cut through the bottom, and brush with the egg you reserved earlier. Bake at 180 degrees until golden brown.

Greek Spanakopita pie is ready. It can be served with yogurt, kefir or sour cream, or just like that. It is delicious both warm and cold.

Do you have some spinach and want to cook something simple and delicious with it? If yes, then you have come to the right place! I recommend making and trying spinach pie, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

Here are some simple step-by-step recipes with different fillings and therefore flavors. The only thing they have in common is spinach and puff pastry.

Spinach can be used either fresh (raw) or frozen.
The recipes use ready-made (store-bought) puff pastry. It doesn’t really matter whether it is made with yeast or without yeast; in the first case, the pie will just be a little fluffier.
I also recommend going to the recipe page. Delicious!

Recipes

Puff pastry pie with spinach and cheese

Thin layer pie with a juicy and aromatic filling of spinach and cheese. Easy to prepare and eat!

Ingredients:

Puff pastry – 450-500 g.
Cheese (any) – 230 g.
Chicken eggs – 4 pcs.
Vegetable oil - for frying;
Spinach (fresh or frozen) - about 220 g.
Salt – 2 pinches;
Onions – 1 pc.

How to cook

First you need to defrost the dough, if it is already soft, then great - proceed to the next step.
Peel the onion, finely chop and fry in vegetable oil until half cooked. Add chopped spinach and fry for another 5-8 minutes.
If you used soft cheese (feta, feta cheese, ricotta), then mash it with a fork until it looks like cottage cheese. If the cheese is semi-hard, then simply grate it.
Place spinach and onions into a cup with cheese, beat in 3 eggs, add salt and mix well. You should get a juicy mushy mass.
Roll out the dough thinly with a rolling pin and divide into 2 rectangles.
Grease a baking sheet and place the first sheet of dough, lifting the edges slightly to create edges.
Spread the spinach and cheese filling onto the dough in an even layer.
Cover with a second sheet of dough and pinch the edges.
Separate the yolk from the remaining egg, then beat it and spread it on the pie.
Heat the oven to 190 degrees, bake for about 25-30 minutes. Until blush.

Puff pastry pie with spinach and cottage cheese

Open pie with spinach, cottage cheese and cheese. If desired, it can also be made closed with millet, as in the recipe above.

Ingredients:

Puff pastry – 250-300 g.
Cottage cheese – 300 g.
Spinach – 200 g.
Fresh herbs: dill, onion, parsley - 1 small bunch;
Eggs – 3 pcs.
Semi-hard cheese – 100 g.
Salt – 0.5 teaspoon;
Sunflower oil;
Ground black pepper – 2-3 pinches;

Preparation

Defrost the dough.
Finely chop the spinach and other greens, place in a frying pan, add 3-5 tbsp. spoon mass and fry over medium heat until soft (10-15 minutes).
Mash the cottage cheese with a fork, add salt and pepper. Beat in the eggs and add the spinach.
Mix well and grate the cheese separately on a coarse grater.
Roll out the puff pastry and then place it in a greased rimmed pan.
Place the curd mixture on top and then cover with a layer of cheese.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees, baking time – 30 minutes.

Puff pastry pie with spinach and egg

Puff pastry with boiled eggs and cheese. This pie will be a good addition to tea, soup, or just as a complete meal.

Ingredients:

Puff pastry – 450 g.
Spinach – 100 g.
Boiled eggs – 3 pcs.
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheese – 100 g.

Cooking

If the dough and spinach are frozen, they must first be thawed at room temperature.
Grease a baking dish with any oil.
Now you need to decide on the type of pie - open or closed.
If it is open, then simply roll out the dough and place it in the mold.
If the pie is closed, you need to roll it out and divide it into two layers. The first one is down, and the second one is to cover the filling.
Peel and finely chop boiled eggs, mix with chopped spinach, salt and pepper.
Place the filling and add grated cheese on top.
All that remains is to put the pie in a preheated oven (180 degrees) for 35 minutes.

Greek spinach pie

This pie somewhat duplicates the first recipe, but it still has its own characteristics. It is called “Greek” or “spanakopita”.

And the peculiarities are that soft varieties of cheese are used (feta, feta cheese, ricotta, etc.) and “phyllo” dough (some call it “phyllo”).

Phyllo dough (filo) is a very thin stretch dough. It looks like sheets of paper.

If you can’t find something similar in the store, then buy regular puff pastry and then roll it out thin.

Ingredients:

Fresh spinach – 100 g.
Fresh dill – 20 g.
Feta cheese – 200 g.
Green onions – 40 g.
Chicken eggs – 3 pcs.
Salt - a pinch;
Black pepper - a pinch;
Vegetable oil – 50 ml.
Filo dough – 1 package (it contains 10-12 sheets);

Preparation

Pour boiling water over the spinach and cook until it softens.

Then drain the water and finely chop the spinach and other greens. Mash the cheese into a paste, add salt and pepper, and then mix with raw eggs and herbs.

Grease the baking dish with oil and turn on the oven to preheat to 180 degrees.

Now you need to place 6 sheets of dough on a baking sheet, greasing each one with oil.

Spread the spinach filling in an even layer.

And similarly, place another 5-6 sheets of dough on top, not forgetting to spread butter between them.

We pinch the edges, spread the remaining oil on top and put in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

The cake will be golden in color with many layers soaked in aromatic oil.

Layered snail pie with spinach

This pie looks like a snail shell, as it is prepared using a special technology. Inside is the same spinach, cheese and eggs. The site will help you prepare a delicious puff snail with herbs!

Ingredients:

Puff pastry (thawed) – 450 g.
Spinach – 350 g.
Boiled eggs – 2-3 pcs.
Green onions, dill and other greens - 1 small bunch;
Cream cheese – 3-4 tbsp. spoons;
Grated cheese – 2-3 tbsp. spoon;
Salt, pepper - 1 pinch each;

Let's cook

Wash all the greens and chop finely. Also crumble the boiled eggs.
Mix spinach and other greens with cheese, seasonings and eggs into a homogeneous, tasty mass. The filling is ready!
Roll out the dough into a wide thin layer. Then it needs to be cut into long strips with a width of 7-10 cm.
You need to place the filling along each strip of dough, and then fasten the edges at all to make long sausages.
Grease a baking sheet with oil.
These “sausages” just need to be laid out in the shape of a spiral, a snail. First they rolled one, then another around it, etc.
Now you need to coat the top of the pie with butter. If desired, you can sprinkle sesame seeds, some herbs and other spices on top.
Place in the oven at 180 degrees for 35 minutes.

To make puff pastries, you will need ready-made yeast-free dough (store-bought or homemade). It needs to be rolled out as thin as possible so that it is almost not felt and crunches when bitten. You can use frozen or fresh spinach for the filling. And if you add green onions, dill and parsley, the filling will be fragrant like spring.

Advice! The baked goods are delicious while they are hot, fresh from the oven. As the puff pastries cool, they will no longer be as crispy, so carefully calculate the number of servings to prepare the snack for one time.

Total cooking time: 2 hours | Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12-14 pieces | Calories: 232.23

Ingredients

frozen spinach – 250 g
puff pastry without yeast – 250 g
feta cheese – 200 g
chicken eggs – 2 pcs.
onions – 1 pc. (100 g)
parsley, dill, green onions - to taste
salt – 1-2 chips.
vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.
sour cream for greasing - 1 tbsp. l.

Preparation

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Completely defrost the puff pastry and spinach.

Finely chop the onion and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. While the onion is frying, finely chop the greens (parsley, dill, green onions).

In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Then add feta to them - mash thoroughly with a fork, mix with eggs until smooth.

Add finely chopped spinach to the filling (squeeze well to avoid excess moisture), fried onions, herbs, and salt to taste. Mix everything well.

Roll out the dough as thin as possible and then cut into 12cm squares.

Place a portion of the filling on each piece. Form triangles. Pin the edges together tightly (I did a tuck, a tuck, and a tuck again).

Transfer the triangles to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread a little sour cream on top to brown the baked goods in the oven.

Bake at 180-190 degrees (the oven must be preheated in advance) for about 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve the pies immediately, piping hot, while crispy and the filling is warm. In addition, you can serve tzatziki (tsatsaki) sauce. Bon appetit!

Anyone who has been to Greece will probably agree with my descriptions of the local cuisine: it is very tasty and colorful, but the names of the dishes are often impossible to even pronounce correctly, let alone remember.

I admit, I also have difficulties with these names, but I still managed to remember a few, I even wrote some down so that I could find the recipe at home and try to repeat it. And first of all, this applies to a very tasty pie called Spanakopita. I don’t know how this is translated, probably something banal, like “spinach pie,” but, in my opinion, it would be more correct to say “narcotic-tasty pastries that people become addicted to.” Crispy crust, cheese, spinach - a magical combination.

There are many variations of this pie, different shapes are possible, from portioned triangles to large ones for the entire baking sheet. The dough and filling are also arranged in different ways: in layers, like lasagna, like regular pies with filling inside, or like (my favorite option) a twisted snail. There are even more filling options; spinach and cheese are always present, but they are taken in different proportions and supplemented with a variety of ingredients.

I tried a lot of recipes and in the end I chose the most ideal option for myself, I hope you will like it too.

Ingredients:

1/2 package phyllo dough (8-9 sheets)
1 large package of spinach leaves (if frozen, then 200g)
feta or cheese, 300g
fresh lightly salted cheese, 200g
butter, 40g
olive oil, 1 tbsp
Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp
ground pepper
a few sprigs of mint
sesame seeds for decoration

Notes .

This recipe does not need to be precise or use all the ingredients. The key ingredients are phyllo dough, spinach and cheese. Mint, olive oil, Greek yogurt are all flavor enhancers, but if you don't have them on hand, that's okay. You can replace yogurt with low-fat sour cream, add dried herbs instead of mint, etc.

With cheeses, it is also not necessary to use such proportions, the main thing is that the total amount of cheeses is 500g and it is advisable to take 2 different ones. One of them should be crumbly and salty, in the original it is, of course, Greek feta, but instead you can use feta cheese or something similar. The second cheese needs to be young, milky and lightly salted, Greece is full of such cheeses, each island makes its own varieties, but nothing is brought to us, and the most suitable option that I found is kachoricotta. As an option, you can use lightly salted Adyghe cheeses.

Filo dough is not so difficult to buy now; I often come across it in large supermarkets. If you can’t find it at all, you can replace it with thinly rolled puff pastry; it won’t be quite spanakopita, but it will still be delicious.

Preparation:

Simmer the spinach over low heat until it reduces in volume. If you use frozen, you need to evaporate the excess liquid. If the leaves were large, you can tear them before stewing with your hands or then lightly chop them with a blender.

Crumble the cheeses with your fingers or grind in a blender (not too much). Add finely chopped mint, yogurt, olive oil, pepper and spinach to them. I didn’t specify salt in the recipe; feta/cheese cheese usually already contains quite a lot of it; there’s no need to add additional salt.

Filo is thin sheets of unleavened dough, rectangular or square. It is not difficult to work with, but there are some nuances: you need to take out and carry out some actions with these sheets carefully, they tear easily. And the dough, which is not yet being used, should be covered with a towel so that it does not dry out.

Lightly coat each sheet with melted butter, then place the filling along one edge and roll it up like a roll. There is no need to wrap it very tightly; there should be a little air between the layers of dough so that later you get airy, crispy layers.

Cover the baking sheet with parchment, roll the prepared tubes into the shape of a snail, you don’t need to pack them very tightly, leave a little air between the “rings.” Grease the future pie with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Baked goods made from phyllo do not rise or spread much, so you can cook it without special molds.

Cook in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

This pie is delicious both hot and cold. It can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days, but this is unlikely :).

Do you like the combination of cheese and spinach? What is your favorite Greek dish?