Cook the Book: Mama Voula's Spanakopita
Photograph from avlxyz on Flickr
While I was in college, art school to be exact, I was a vegetarian. I also wasn't a very adventurous cook. Spaghetti with jarred pasta sauce with some soy "meat" substitute, taco salad made with soy "meat"... you get the idea. Don't get me wrong, I ate fairly well and my friends (mostly vegetarian art school students) were always happy with the meals that I made. But one day, I decided to branch out and cook something a bit more labor-intensive. I made spanakopita. I have to say that it was a revelation. It turned out beautifully and gave me the confidence to try out other more involved cooking projects. Years later, my cooking skills have vastly improved and there are few dishes that I won't try to make in my home kitchen. And I still love spanakopita.
This recipe for spanakopita from JoAnn Cianciulli's L.A.'s Original Farmers Market Cookbook is adapted from Ulysses Voyage, a Greek taverna in Farmers Market. The recipe comes from owner Peter Carabatos's grandmother, Mama Voula. She's a native of the village of Kalamata, home of the famous black olive. Mama Voula used a thicker style of filo for her spanakopita, making it a bit more resilient and easier to handle. Look for country-style filo or substitute puff pastry for this recipe.
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Mama Voula's Spanakopita
- serves 12 -
Adapted from L.A.'s Original Farmers Market Cookbook by JoAnn Cianciulli.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, preferably Greek, plus more for brushing
6 leeks, white and light green parts, chopped and well rinsed
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 pounds fresh baby spinach, rinsed and dried
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups crumbled fresh feta cheese, preferably Greek
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 frozen country-style filo sheets or puff pastry sheets (see Note), thawed but kept chilled
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat with 3 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hazy, add the leeks and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant and very soft, about 4 minutes. Add the spinach in handfuls, folding the leaves under with a spoon as you add each batch. Let the spinach wilt and cook down before adding more. Once all of the spinach is in the pan, season with pepper.
3. Remove from heat and transfer the spinach mixture to a colander over the sink. Using the back of a spoon, gently press out all of the excess liquid. Set aside to cool; the filling needs to cool down a bit to prevent the dough from becoming soggy. Once the spinach mixture is cool, put in a bowl and add the feta, dill , mint, and eggs. Fold the ingredients together until well combined.
4. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with oil. Working with 1 sheet at a time, lay the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out slightly to fit the pan. Line the bottom of the dish with the first piece of dough, pressing into the corners. Trim off any excess with a pairing knife. Spread the spinach filling evenly over the dough. Cover with the second sheet of dough, trimming around the edges of the dish. Brush the top with oil.
5. Bake until the top is puffed and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Ingredient Note-Filo: In the villages of Greece, filo dough is typically rolled out by hand, but unless you are very accomplished, it's nearly impossible to stretch it as thin as it is produced by machine. Mama Voula makes her spinach pie as it is served in her native village of Kalamata, with a slightly thicker filo instead of the typical tissue-thin. Sold under the the label "Coutry-style filo" (called horiatiko in Greek), the sheets are thicker and more elastic than the usual thin and fragile filo. If country-style filo is not available in your market's freezer section, go ahead and substitute puff pastry.
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6 Comments:
Two cups of Feta cheese would make this dish a little too salty, IMHO.
I suggest substituting cottage cheese for one cup of the Feta. This is what my mom would do when she made spinach pie (byrek me spinaq) and hers was always great.
zemer at 3:00PM on 06/22/09
Over the years my spanokopita has evolved from the recipes like Mama Voula's to "What's in my refrigerator today?" As a result, these spinach pastries have become a staple at the dinner table or at a pot luck. With or without the pastry wrapper, the combination of spinach, feta, and whatever else is handy always turns out well. So, my advice is to experiment with your ingredients. After all these years, this is one "kitchen sink" dish that never fails to be delicious.
bonniesue at 4:45PM on 06/22/09
i always add some ricotta with the feta also like zemer above.... but it sounds delicious.... i never put mint in mine, next time i think i'll try it.
looks delicious.
pooch at 4:57PM on 06/22/09
You can make a simple pastry of flour, olive oil and water with a bit of salt. This is how my Greek mother and grandmother used to make their pies. Just roll it out, put the ingredients inside, then roll it up and tuck the ends in. Brush with a bit of olive oil and optionally sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
mrbill1234 at 6:07PM on 06/22/09
@mr.bill - you wouldn't happen to know the ratio of olive oil/water?
that's something i'd like to try. and sprinkled with sesame seeds?
funny, i just made a pizza tonite with sesame seeds on top... fresh tomato, garlic ....
pooch at 9:19PM on 06/22/09
Sure,
3 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups of water, and about 1 or 2 tablespoons good olive oil (preferably Greek), and some salt. Just stick it all in a bowl and mix by hand or an electric mixer with a dough hook and work it until it becomes a dough ball.
Like all my moms recipes, they are not very precise - just go by feel. You should end up with a stiff dough. Stick it in a bag for a few hours to rest, then work the dough into a rectangle shape, add your filling, and roll it into a long sausage shape making sure the seam is on the bottom. Tuck the open ends under the pie (these crunchy ends are my favourite bits when they are cooked), brush with olive oil and (optionally) sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and cook as normal. Note this dough recipes makes enough dough for 3 or 4 large spanakopitas!
The insides are very much like the recipe above except I don't use eggs. Also don't feel like you have to use spinach or even baby spinach (which can be expensive). I use frozen spinach which I defrost and remove the excess water from. Frozen spinach needs a bit of cooking, so you can do that when you cook your leeks/onions or even pop it in the microwave just to soften it up. You may also need to give frozen spinach a bit of a rough chop (not too much).
Most important part of the insides of the spanakopita are the herbs, I would personally double or even triple the amount in the recipe above - depending on the freshness and strength of the herbs.
mrbill1234 at 4:44AM on 06/23/09