Spring Greens Spanakopita Recipes

SPRING GREENS SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Chop spring onions and garlic. Remove leafy greens from stems and roughly chop.
• Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic to pan, cooking for approx 1 min and then adding 1/4 cup of water to steam veggies. Cook another 3 minutes, then add leafy greens to pan in batches, adding 1/4 cup water each time to help cook greens down. Keep repeating process until all greens are in the pan (mine took about 3 batches).
• When greens are cooked down and wilted, take pan off heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the phyllo dough.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 or 8x10 inch pan. Gently place 1 sheet of phyllo dough in the pan and press down to fill in. Spray liberally with olive oil spray until the entire sheet is coated and top with another sheet. Repeat until you have 4 sheets on top of one another. If the sheets break a little, it's ok. Cover unused phyllo dough with a damp kitchen towel or paper towel so it doesn't dry out.
• Place greens in a food processor. Add cheeses, salt, eggs, dill and lemon juice. Cover vent lid with a paper towel if the mixture is still hot so that it can release steam while processing. Blend all ingredients together until everything is mixed throughout.
• Pour mix into phyllo dough pan. Fold the extra end of phyllo dough over the mixture. Take 2 more sheets of phyllo dough and cut each in half. Layer them one by one in the pan, spraying each with olive oil spray in between layering. Spray the top as well.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve warm.

SPRING GREENS SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, tip in the greens and cook for 1 min, then drain and leave in the colander to cool a little.
• Melt 1 tbsp butter with the oil in a large pan. Add the leeks and a big pinch of salt, then stir over a medium heat until softened, about 8 mins. Add the garlic and cook for another min, then remove from the heat, tip into a large bowl and leave to cool.
• Squeeze as much water out of the greens as you can; if you don't mind getting a tea towel dirty, the best way to do this is to pile them onto the clean towel, gather the corners and squeeze. Add the greens to the pan with the leeks, then stir in the herbs, nutmeg, cheeses, eggs, zest and seasoning. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
• You'll need a 23cm springform cake tin to assemble the tart in. Melt the remaining butter in a pan or the microwave and use some of it to grease the tin. Now you're ready to work with the filo. Have a clean tea towel to hand to keep the sheets covered as you work (it can dry out very quickly). Layer the sheets of filo in the tin, brushing each one really well with butter and leaving plenty of pastry hanging over the edge, to close the top with once filled. Scatter the sesame seeds between each layer of pastry as you go. Save a few sheets for the top. Once the tin is lined, fill with the greens mixture. Scrunch a few more sheets of buttery pastry on top and fold in the overhanging sheets to close the tart. Scatter any remaining sesame seeds on top and drizzle over the remaining butter.
• Bake for 40-45 mins until deep golden brown (cover with foil if it starts to brown too much). Remove from the tin as soon as you can to help keep the pastry crisp. Serve warm or cold.

SPANAKOPITA SPRING ROLLS

Steps:

• Mix first 6 ingredients. With a corner of an egg roll wrapper facing you, place about 1/3 cup filling just below center of wrapper. (Cover remaining wrappers with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Fold bottom corner over filling; moisten remaining wrapper edges with water. Fold side corners toward center over filling. Roll up tightly, pressing at tip to seal. Repeat. , In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry spring rolls, a few at a time, until golden brown, 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels. , Freeze option: Freeze uncooked spring rolls in freezer containers, spacing them so they don't touch and separating the layers with waxed paper. To use, fry frozen spring rolls as directed, increasing time as necessary.

SPANAKOPITA (GREEK GREENS PIE )

Steps:

• Cook spinach til tender; drain, lightly squeeze out excess water and place in med bowl. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice and rind to spinach; mix well. Set aside.
• Saute onions with spices in 2 tbsp olive oil until onions are transparent. Stir in rice, water and raisins; heat through. Set aside.
• In separate bowl, beat eggs lightly with pepper. Add feta cheese and mix well. Set aside.
• In a 9" oiled deep pie pan, lay one sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the pan and brush entire surface with melted butter. Top with 7 more sheets, one by one, brushing each and rotating each sheet 20 degrees. There will be over-hang.
• Over that, carefully layer the onion mixture, then the spinach, then the cheese.
• Cover with a top 'crust' of phyllo by repeating same procedure as step 4: Eight sheets, each brushed with butter and rotated.
• Roll-up the overhanging dough to form a seal. Brush top with melted butter.
• Bake 350 degrees, for 1/2 hour. Lay a piece of foil over top and continue to bake for another 1/2 hour or until done.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before eating.