Spinach and Feta Puffs

Sometimes it seems all we eat during the month of December is in appetizer form. So many parties, potlucks, gatherings and get-togethers, all of which constitute a meal made in bite-sized portions.

I’ve been looking beyond my typical pesto palmiers recipe lately, but haven’t given up my appetizer stand-by: puff pastry. So I tried an idea from Bon Appetit that combines my love of spanikopita with my annoyance of phyllo dough. Solution: wrap up those Mediterranean flavors in puff pastry instead.

I made these for a neighborhood party, where they were gobbled up quickly, and I will be making them for our annual family Christmas party as well.

A great snack that you can eat with one hand but is more substantial than chips-and-dip.

Adapted from Bon Appetit…

Spinach and Feta Puffs

Ingredients, serves 6: (note, I doubled this)

• 1 ten-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well (squeeze dry)
• 1/2 c. crumbled feta
• 1/4 c. minced onion
• 1 T EVOO
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• Kosher salt and cracked pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix spinach and next 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat 1 egg and fold egg into spinach mixture.

Roll puff pastry out to a 12-inch square and cut into three strips, then cut those strips in thirds for a total of 9 small squares. Place each square in muffin tin cup, leaving corners pointing up. Divide filling among cups, roughly 1 heaping Tablespoon per cup ( you don’t want too much). Fold dough tips over and pinch together. (Note: next time I will use cooking spray to make them easier to get out)

Beat remaining egg and brush over pastry. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.

Bake until pastry is golden and puffed, about 25 min. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Use sharp paring knife to loosen puffs and cool to desired temperature on wire rack.

There you go! I have made these ahead and then just nuked them before the party so they are still a little warm. The filling is also easy to make in advance.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

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Appetizer Spanikopita

I made this spanikopita for a party on St. Patrick’s Day – the spinach is green, so y’know…

While I’ve made “dinner spanikopita” before, this is a different sort of deal because it’s basically a strudel. Rolling sheets of buttered phyllo dough around a filling of spinach, green onions and feta, then baking and slicing into pieces. Sort of like my curried chicken strudel – also from Ina Garten. Because she’s the queen of entertaining, I knew I should use her recipes.

This was very popular at the party and I loved having leftovers for lunch – the recipe used almost all of the phyllo from the box. It’s also pretty easy, aside from the whole dealing-with-phyllo thing. The trick is to just be gentle, and don’t use too much butter.

Adapted from Ina Garten…

Appetizer Spanikopita

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 bunch chopped scallions, white and green parts
• 2 (10-ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 40 sheets (1 box) frozen phyllo dough, defrosted overnight in the refrigerator
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the scallions. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the scallions (with oil), eggs, feta, salt, and pepper and mix together.

Keep the phyllo dough sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel. Unfold 1 sheet of the phyllo dough. Brush the sheet lightly with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with breadcrumbs. Repeat the process by laying a second sheet of phyllo dough over the first sheet, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs until 10 sheets have been used. Spoon 3/4 cup of the spinach mixture into a sausage shape along one edge of the phyllo dough. Roll it up. Brush the top with butter and score the roll into 1-inch rounds. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (if making ahead, just cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate). Place it on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Repeat until all the pastry and filling have been used (mine made three “loaves”).

Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Then slice all the way through…

Grant liked this with a little extra cracked pepper and coarse salt sprinkled on top – not a bad addition, if you ask me. I love the flaky phyllo with the creamy feta and spinach inside.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

Spanikopita

Every year after Thanksgiving, I find myself craving something as far from roasted bird as possible. These are the times for Thai takeout, sushi eaten curled up on the couch and breakfast-for-dinner.

A nice meal my Greek-looking friend and I recently enjoyed would be perfect for such times. Ina Garten’s take on that classic Greek dish: spanikopita.

Ina creates a robustly flavored filling of spinach, toasted pine nuts, onion, scallions, Parmesan, nutmeg and cubes of feta cheese that becomes sealed in a packet of buttery phyllo dough that flakes off as you bite into it.

Working with phyllo is always aggravating, and this time was no different. Next time, I will make fully sure that my dough it completely thawed before working with it – lest it break off into a million shards.

We used less than half the recipe, freezing the rest for another time. We made six spanikopitas, which we served with Grant’s classic cucumber/tomato/onion salad like his Southern mama used to make.

Spanikopita

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
• 4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Plain dry bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups small-diced feta cheese (12 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 24 sheets frozen phyllo dough, defrosted
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• Flaked sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan, add the onion, and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Add the scallions, and cook for another 2 minutes until the scallions are wilted but still green. Meanwhile, gently squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a large bowl.

When the onion and scallions are done, add them to the spinach. Mix in the eggs, Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons bread crumbs, the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Gently fold in the feta and pine nuts.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough flat on a work surface with the long end in front of you. Brush the dough lightly with butter and sprinkle it with a teaspoon of bread crumbs. Working quickly, slide another sheet of phyllo dough on top of the first, brush it with butter, and sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs. (Use just enough bread crumbs so the layers of phyllo don’t stick together.) Pile 4 layers total on top of each other this way, brushing each with butter and sprinkling with bread crumbs. Cut the sheets of phyllo in half lengthwise. Place 1/3 cup spinach filling on the shorter end and roll the phyllo up diagonally as if folding a flag. Then fold the triangle of phyllo over straight and then diagonally again. Continue folding first diagonally and then straight until you reach the end of the sheet. The filling should be totally enclosed. Continue assembling phyllo layers and folding the filling until all of the filling is used. Place on a sheet pan, seam sides down. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with flaked salt, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the phyllo is browned and crisp. Serve hot.

This was so delicious that I instantly burned my tongue so bad that I had to suck on ice for the next 15 minutes. But it was WORTH IT!

Enjoy, friends! xoxo