More Phyllo fun: SPANAKOPITA

A complex savory filling complements the flaky shell.

Well, people, I am on a roll!  It's as if a monster has been unleashed.  Once I had success with the phyllo mushroom bites I made last this week I just had to try making a Greek favorite of mine, Spanakopita.  They came out GREAT and rival any I've had at area restaurants.  Just look how beautiful they are!  I based the recipe on one that I found at epicurious.com, but changed it around a good bit in order to suit on-hand ingredients and personal taste.

The end result is below.

Perfect spinach-filled triangles await baking.

SPANAKOPITA

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 garlic clove, minced

3 scallions, chopped

1 10-oz. pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

10 small, pitted black olives, finely diced

Juice of half of a lemon

1 8-oz. pkg. crumbled Feta

10 (17- by 12-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed if frozen

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, saute onions and garlic until tender.  Stir in EXTREMELY well-drained spinach, olives, black pepper, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Remove from heat and cool, about 10 minutes.  Stir in Feta cheese.

Melt remaining 1 stick butter in a small saucepan, then cool.

Cover phyllo stack with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and then a dampened kitchen towel.

Take 1 phyllo sheet from stack and arrange on a work surface with a long side nearest you (keeping remaining sheets covered) and brush with some butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and brush with more butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack crosswise into 6 (roughly 12- by 2 3/4-inch) strips.

Put a heaping teaspoon of filling near 1 corner of a strip on end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip (like a flag), maintaining triangle shape. Put triangle, seam side down, on a large baking sheet and brush top with butter. Make more triangles in same manner, using all of phyllo.

Bake triangles in middle of oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly.