Spinach-filled Phyllo Triangles (Spanakopites)

Photo by Dr. Sina Bacol

Spinach-filled Phyllo Triangles 

(Spanakopites)

Bake: 20 min

Prep: 45 min

Makes: about 40-50 pieces

Bake: 20 min

Prep: 45 min

Makes: about 40-50 pieces

Athens® brand of thin phyllo, 9 by 14-inches (size 4) is used in this recipe. In a one-pound box, two 9 by 14-inch rolls of phyllo are included. Use one roll and freeze the other in the original packaging. May brush phyllo with butter, olive oil or a combination of both. Check out the URL for pictures and video showing phyllo wrapping techniques. Best if phyllo is brushed in melted butter or oil or a combination of both.

1/2 pound phyllo	1 bunch dill, chopped
10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach 3 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing 1 bunch green onions, chopped	3/4 cup olive oil, divided 2 cups Greek feta, crumbled 3 eggs, whisked

Bring one roll phyllo to room temperature in original wrap. Cook spinach, drain, squeeze out water and cool. Sauté spinach with chopped green onion (both white and green parts) and dill in 3 tablespoons olive oil. In a large bowl, mix sautéed spinach, onions and dill with feta, eggs and ¼ cup olive oil. Remove phyllo from wax paper. Place stack of phyllo on a cutting board and cut lengthwise into 4 equal strips. Cover phyllo with wax paper or damp towel until ready to use to keep from drying out. With ½ cup olive (may be slightly warmed), lightly brush one strip with olive oil; place a second strip on top of first strip and lightly brush with olive oil, too. Place a heaping teaspoonful of spinach mixture at one end of the strip. Fold one corner over filling to make a triangle and continue folding as you would a flag. Brush olive oil under the last fold to seal the triangle and finish by lightly brushing the top of the triangle with olive oil. Continue until all triangles are made and placed on a large sheet pan covered in parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350⁰F until golden brown.

Phyllo Tips

1. Bring phyllo to room temperature, by placing the frozen phyllo in the refrigerator overnight. The next day it out for 1-2 hours to bring it to room temperature. Otherwise, it may brittle and gummy. And do not microwave it!!! 
2. Once phyllo is room temperature, remove the it from wax paper. 
3. Place a damp towel or wax paper on top of phyllo to keep from drying out or work fast. Phyllo is very forgiving; if it breaks, add some butter and keep folding.
4. When preparing the phyllo strips, cut lengthwise in half (you can use a knife or cooking scissors) and then again lengthwise in half, making 4 equal parts. 
5. When making a triangle fold one corner over the filling, making a triangle and continue folding as you would a flag, first up and then to the side until the entire strip becomes a spinach-filled phyllo triangle.

Brushing Tips

1. Suggest using a soft-bristled pastry brush than a silicone brush, when brushing melted butter on phyllo.
2. It is not recommended to wash the soft-bristled brush in the dishwasher. Run some hot water over the brush, put soap on top of the brush and rinse it thoroughly for a few minutes. 
3. I label my soft-bristled brush  that I use for buttering phyllo so as not to use it with, for example, a chicken marinade. I don't want to pick up any other flavors such as oregano if the brush should not be thoroughly cleaned. 

Freezing Tips

1. Lay unbaked triangles separately out a pan, cover the pan with saran wrap and foil and then freeze them for an hour. 
2.  If don't have enough room in the freezer, you can remove them from the pan once they are frozen after an hour and place them in a zip lock storage bag.   When removed from freezer cook, lightly spray with water and cook immediately for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

 

Lia and I made spinach filled  (spanakopites) and Cheese filled (tiropites) triangles this weekend.  Please take look at the video with the very photogenic Lia Kakaris showing how the wrapping is done to make them into a very  delicate and beautiful  appetizers.  Note:  either butter or olive oil or even butter with a couple tablespoons olive oil may be used to lightly brush phyllo dough. 

We made spinach triangles with herbs and two types of cheese triangles 1) with feta and cottage cheese and one with 2) Mizithra and feta cheese. 

And then we conducted a taste test

Drum roll... the unanimous decision favored the spinach triangle and the cheese triangle with Mizithra filling coming in as a close second.  They thought the Mizithra filled cheese triangle was slightly better than the cottage cheese filled triangle  The mizithra can be easily grated in a Cuisinart. 

I love the spinach recipe for only requiring one pot for all the cooking. The spinach triangle takes more time to make than the cheese triangle because of required time to chop up the fresh herbs-it's well worth it.

 Beautiful golden brown spanakopites and tiropites.