Spanakopitas

Spanakopitas...mmmmmm...I want you.

But!

Phyllo pastry is a total jerk.  The phyllo dough comes in paper-thin sheets, tears easily, dries out easily, gets too wet easily when you are trying, like, your hardest, not to dry it out, and just in general doesn't want to do the things you want it to do, especially when it's almost midnight on a Thursday night because you didn't start making spanakopitas until after Real Housewives of Orange County, and you have Greek Supper Club tomorrow night so you have to finish them, and you have to be up at 6am.

But...

Because your taste buds will be soooo happy, you should probably make these spanakopitas anyways, if you have the time to fuss.  They freeze beautifully, so I've been known to make a triple batch and keep them on hand in my freezer for something quick to pop into the oven and serve as an appy when friends and family come over.

I had Supper Club #2 last Friday at my friend Cleary's house, this time with a Greek theme.  Oh, supper club, and the amount of wine that flows.  Here's an excerpt from the evening:  At one point in the night, I accidentally tipped the glass coffee table over in Cleary's living room, causing it to fall to the floor.  The coffee table was fine, but what was on the coffee table, do you ask?  Oh, nothing...except two full bottles of red wine, three full glasses of red wine, and the game of Taboo (ironic).  I remember looking at the tipped over bottles of wine and slow-motion-watching the red fluid just chug-chug-chugging out them onto the floor.  The 'floor' was white carpet, that was now covered in broken shards of glass, copious amounts of red wine, and a soaked Taboo score-pad.  The next thing you know, all four girls are washing and spraying and vacuuming and wiping, in between all of the laughter.  If that happened at my house, there would have been no laughter, only faces with a look of sheer fear on them when they see my reaction to the disaster.  Kudos to my friend Cleary who actually commented afterwards that her living room looked cleaner than before we arrived.  That's what friends are for!  It's also good to know that I still hold the title for the spilliest girl in the world.  For this reason, my best friend Sheena doesn't approve of me buying white clothing when we are shopping together.  Well Sheena, I was wearing a white t-shirt at Cleary's house that night, so I guess one point for you.



Good thing that the spanakopitas and tzatziki that I brought were delicious.  Actually, the entire Supper Club menu was soooo tasty:  my spanakopitas and homemade tzatziki as a starter, hummus and pita, Greek salad, lemon garlic potatoes, chicken souvlaki pitas, and lemon cake.  I've spoken about my love of garlic on this blog in the past before...this feast was what I was talking about.  Major garlic hangover the next day.  I've posted the tzatziki recipe that I used too, because it was literally the best tzatziki I have had in a really long time, and definitely the best that I've ever made.    

Supper Club #3 will be hosted at my house next month, and the theme is....BACON!  I will be serving up the main dish, so if anyone has a great bacon recipe that they would like to share, please pass it along.  I'm looking forward to the bacon-filled dessert!

Enjoy!

Spanakopitas

Ingredients
1 lb (454 grams) spinach, steps removed, and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 cups (300 grams) feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup (100 grams) olive oil
2 tsp. (10 mL) dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 lb (454 grams) package phyllo dough, thawed
1 cup (250 mL) melted butter

Directions
Soak spinach in hot water for 10 minutes or until wilted.  Drain well, squeezing out excess water.  Place in a large bowl.  Add the onion, eggs, feta cheese, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper to the bowl.

Preheat oven to 350F, and set aside two baking sheets.  Unroll phyllo dough and cover with a clean, dampened towel (not too wet or the phyllo will stick to it...ugh) to prevent from drying out.  Remove one sheet of phyllo dough, place on a second dampened towel (not too wet or the phyllo will stick to it...ugh), and brush with melted butter.  Stack a second sheet of phyllo dough on top of the first sheet, and brush with butter.  Cut the phyllo dough cross-wise into four strips.

Place 1 - 2 tbsp. (15 - 30 mL) of the filling at one end of each of the four strips.

Fold phyllo over filling to form a triangle.  Keep folding, maintaining a triangular shape, until you reach the end of the strip.  Place on a baking sheet, seam side down.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling.  Brush triangles with remaining butter.


Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Serve with a scoop of tzatziki (click here for the best tzatziki recipe!).  Freezes really well.



Makes:  About 3 dozen

The Hubby's Review:  Although he wouldn't want to admit it, he's actually the expert at folding the  triangles, and he gives it 5 stars. "Deeeeelicious!"

Adapted From:  Byblos - The Cook Book