Spanakopita
“Rich with cheese — a meal in itself. Making your own filo dough is an ambitious undertaking but you can buy excellent frozen pastry. You must work with it very quickly and carefully as it is fragile and dries out rapidly. If you’ve never used it before, be sure to read the instructions on the […]
“Rich with cheese — a meal in itself. Making your own filo dough is an ambitious undertaking but you can buy excellent frozen pastry. You must work with it very quickly and carefully as it is fragile and dries out rapidly. If you’ve never used it before, be sure to read the instructions on the package.” –The October Country Inn, Bridgewater Corners, Vermont
Yield:
Serves 8Ingredients
3 pounds cottage cheese
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs
3 tablespoons dill weed
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 pounds frozen spinach, cooked and drained well
1/2 cup melted butter
1 pound filo pastry
1 cup dry bread crumbs
Caraway seeds
Instructions
Combine the cheeses, eggs, and herbs. Squeeze excess liquid out of drained spinach, add to cheese mixture, and mix well. Brush a 13×9-inch pan with butter. Lay a sheet of pastry in pan, allowing edges to extend beyond sides of pan. Brush with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Lay another sheet of dough on top and again brush with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Continue to layer the pastry dough in this fashion until there are 6 layers. Fill shell with cheese and spinach mixture. Fold edges of dough over top and again start to layer sheets of pastry dough for a total of 8 layers on top of mixture. End with brushed butter on the top sheet. Tuck the extra dough that extends beyond the edges down inside the pan around the cheese and spinach mixture. Slash the top and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F.
