No visits to Greece is ever complete, without numerous visits to local bakeries for the delicious spanakopita, those gorgeous filo parcels, packed full of spinach and feta and pine nuts. Back home from idyllic Greek islands, I’d never contemplated trying to replicate these, because I felt that if you didn’t make your own filo pastry it was cheating, but making it seemed a complete hassle. I also didn’t think I’d ever be able to replicate that special taste, so never tried.
I’m well over the cheating feeling now. As we don’t have the luxury of a local shop on the doorstep anymore, we need to think ahead a bit more and this means we’re definitely getting a bit more creative in the kitchen. It does help that we do now have a lovely new kitchen, rather than the one we inherited when we bought the house, which was functional but not really a pleasure to spend much time in…
So, this weekend, it was decided to bring a bit of Greek sunshine into the house – and the replication of the spanakopita commenced!
To be honest, I’m not sure why I’ve not done it before. It was quick and easy and the end result, because it’s actually quite difficult to go wrong with this, was delicious. And although this was a pie, rather than a parcel, it did take me right back to those warm summer days on Greek islands.
what you’ll need
- 500g spinach (fresh, if possible, rather than frozen)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 200g feta, crumbled
- 4 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
- 3 large free-range eggs, beaten
- Filo pastry sheets
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Nutmeg
what you’ll need to do
To accompany this dish I roasted some gorgeous new potatoes – they’re just starting to appear in Istria and are so much nicer than winter potatoes – and coated them in smoky paprika, rock salt and chilli flakes, to give the meal a bit of a kick. And, these certainly had a kick, so the addition of a fresh, zingy cherry tomato, cucumber and lemon salad worked a treat.
A great Greek treat on a cold night in Istria.
