I. Spanakopita, Evdoxia Style
Like her recipes, Evdoxia's methods are colorful and effective, but a little unorthodox. Or in her case, especially orthodox, like the methods Greek women having been using for centuries. "Like back in the gipo (the village)," her sons say, a bit disparagingly. For example, with the exception of beating the eggs, everything is mixed with her hands.."My hands are clean, Katie!" she says after scrubbing them at the beginning of each lesson. Her reasoning: How can you know it is the right texture or consistency if you don't feel it with your hands? I am learning with each lesson that this is so true. Plus it is so liberating to have license to play with your food.
Ingredients
2 boxes extra wide filo sheets
4 boxes frozen chopped spinach
4 bunches green onions
1 pound of salted butter
3 cups Mazola oil
1 1/2 pounds large curd cottage cheese
1 1/2 pounds feta cheese, well crumbled
6 eggs, well beaten
Method
Prepare Filling
1. Clarify butter by bringing it to a low bowl in a small sauce pan. Simmer for a few minutes until butter is clear and salt is visible on the bottom of the pan. Do not brown. Set aside.
2. Thaw spinach in a colander in the sink. Do not rinse. Squeeze all liquid. Place in a large bowl. (Or "casserole," as Evdoxia calls her big pot.) Loosen the compressed spinach.
3. Chop green onions and place in a smaller bowl with 1/4 cup salt. With your hands, roughly squeeze the salt and onions. Then rinse the onions thoroughly and squeeze out all liquid. Combine with spinach and mix well.
4. Sprinkle spinach mixture with 4 tablespoons of the clarified butter and mix well.
5. Add cottage cheese, feta cheese, eggs and mix well.
6. Add oil to the butter and stir.
Assemble
1. First layer: Cover the bottom and side of pan with two layers of filo (10 sheets altogether.) Take two more sheets a, scrunch together and break in the middle. Lightly stuff these in the sides and corners. Sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
2. Second layer: take a handful of spinach mixture and drop little blobs all around. Do not spread, but make sure there are little blobs everywhere.
3. Third layer: Place a single layer of filo, and sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
4. Repeat second and third layers.
5. Cut off extra filo from around the edges, scrunch up and scatter around the center of the previous filo layer.
6. Repeat second and third layers twice.
7. Place five layers of filo, gently tucking in the edges.
8. Sprinkle or brush generously with butter mixture.
9. With a sharp knife make parallel, diagonal cuts. Do not cut through bottom layer.
10. Sprinkle generously with water.
Baking
1. Bake in a 350 degree preheated over for 45 minutes. Top layers will have puffed up somewhat.
2. Remove from oven. With sharp knife cut between the pieces on the same lines.
3. Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and pour off liquid.
5. Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes more. Top layer should be crispy, flaky and golden with light brown around the edges.
6. Cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
7. Cut into diamonds by making parallel, diagonal cuts, similar to the first cuts.
Eat warm or at room temperature. Do not microwave. To reheat, place in foil and warm in a 300 degree oven.
II. A Skinnier Spinach Pie
To make this more "doable" for your kitchen and/or diet, I've scaled down most ingredients proportionately, but I got stingy with the Mazola, butter and cheese. The double-wide filo that Evdoxia uses is not widely available outside of Greek communities, so I substituted the regular size findable in most grocery stores. However, the methods remain the same. I still recommend using your hands to mix and still prefer sprinkling rather than brushing the butter mixture.
Ingredients
2 boxes filo sheets
2 boxes frozen chopped spinach
2 bunches green onions
1 cup salted butter
1 cup Mazola oil
1/2 pound large curd cottage cheese
1/2 pound feta cheese, well crumbled
3 eggs, well beaten
Salt
Method
Prepare Filling
1. Clarify butter by bringing it to a low bowl in a small sauce pan. Simmer for a few minutes until butter is clear and salt is visible on the bottom of the pan. Do not brown. Set aside
2. Thaw spinach in a colander in the sink. Do not rinse. Squeeze all liquid. Place in a large bowl. Loosen the compressed spinach.
3. Chop green onions and place in a smaller bowl with one tablespoon salt. With your hands, roughly squeeze the salt and onions. Then rinse the onions thoroughly and squeeze out all liquid. Combine with spinach and mix well.
4. Sprinkle spinach mixture with 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter and mix well.
5. Add cottage cheese, feta cheese, eggs and mix well.
6. Add 1/2 cup butter to the oil and stir.
Assemble
1. First layer: Cover the bottom and side of pan with two layers of filo (6 sheets: overlapping two horizontally and four vertically, draping slightly over the edges of the pan.) Take another sheet, scrunch together and break in the middle. Lightly stuff these in the sides and corners. Sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
2. Second layer: take a handful of spinach mixture and drop little blobs all around. Do not spread, but make sure there are little blobs everywhere.
3. Third layer: Place a single layer of filo (overlapping two vertically, but not draping over the sides as in step 1), and sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
4. Repeat second and third layers.
5. Cut off extra filo from around the edges, scrunch up and scatter around the center of the previous filo layer.
6. Repeat second and third layers twice.
7. Place 2 additional sheets of filo on top, gently tucking in the edges.
8. Sprinkle or brush generously with butter mixture.
9. With a sharp knife make parallel, diagonal cuts. Do not cut through bottom layer.
10. Sprinkle generously with water.
Baking
1. Bake in a 350 degree preheated over for 30 minutes. Top layers will have puffed up somewhat.
2. Remove from oven. With sharp knife cut between the pieces on the same lines.
3. Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and pour off any liquid.
5. Return to oven and bake 10-15 minutes more. Top layer should be crispy, flaky and golden with light brown around the edges.
Like her recipes, Evdoxia's methods are colorful and effective, but a little unorthodox. Or in her case, especially orthodox, like the methods Greek women having been using for centuries. "Like back in the gipo (the village)," her sons say, a bit disparagingly. For example, with the exception of beating the eggs, everything is mixed with her hands.."My hands are clean, Katie!" she says after scrubbing them at the beginning of each lesson. Her reasoning: How can you know it is the right texture or consistency if you don't feel it with your hands? I am learning with each lesson that this is so true. Plus it is so liberating to have license to play with your food.
Ingredients
2 boxes extra wide filo sheets
4 boxes frozen chopped spinach
4 bunches green onions
1 pound of salted butter
3 cups Mazola oil
1 1/2 pounds large curd cottage cheese
1 1/2 pounds feta cheese, well crumbled
6 eggs, well beaten
Method
Prepare Filling
1. Clarify butter by bringing it to a low bowl in a small sauce pan. Simmer for a few minutes until butter is clear and salt is visible on the bottom of the pan. Do not brown. Set aside.
2. Thaw spinach in a colander in the sink. Do not rinse. Squeeze all liquid. Place in a large bowl. (Or "casserole," as Evdoxia calls her big pot.) Loosen the compressed spinach.
3. Chop green onions and place in a smaller bowl with 1/4 cup salt. With your hands, roughly squeeze the salt and onions. Then rinse the onions thoroughly and squeeze out all liquid. Combine with spinach and mix well.
4. Sprinkle spinach mixture with 4 tablespoons of the clarified butter and mix well.
5. Add cottage cheese, feta cheese, eggs and mix well.
6. Add oil to the butter and stir.
Assemble
1. First layer: Cover the bottom and side of pan with two layers of filo (10 sheets altogether.) Take two more sheets a, scrunch together and break in the middle. Lightly stuff these in the sides and corners. Sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
2. Second layer: take a handful of spinach mixture and drop little blobs all around. Do not spread, but make sure there are little blobs everywhere.
3. Third layer: Place a single layer of filo, and sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
4. Repeat second and third layers.
5. Cut off extra filo from around the edges, scrunch up and scatter around the center of the previous filo layer.
6. Repeat second and third layers twice.
7. Place five layers of filo, gently tucking in the edges.
8. Sprinkle or brush generously with butter mixture.
9. With a sharp knife make parallel, diagonal cuts. Do not cut through bottom layer.
10. Sprinkle generously with water.
Baking
1. Bake in a 350 degree preheated over for 45 minutes. Top layers will have puffed up somewhat.
2. Remove from oven. With sharp knife cut between the pieces on the same lines.
3. Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and pour off liquid.
5. Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes more. Top layer should be crispy, flaky and golden with light brown around the edges.
6. Cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
7. Cut into diamonds by making parallel, diagonal cuts, similar to the first cuts.
Eat warm or at room temperature. Do not microwave. To reheat, place in foil and warm in a 300 degree oven.
II. A Skinnier Spinach Pie
To make this more "doable" for your kitchen and/or diet, I've scaled down most ingredients proportionately, but I got stingy with the Mazola, butter and cheese. The double-wide filo that Evdoxia uses is not widely available outside of Greek communities, so I substituted the regular size findable in most grocery stores. However, the methods remain the same. I still recommend using your hands to mix and still prefer sprinkling rather than brushing the butter mixture.
Ingredients
2 boxes filo sheets
2 boxes frozen chopped spinach
2 bunches green onions
1 cup salted butter
1 cup Mazola oil
1/2 pound large curd cottage cheese
1/2 pound feta cheese, well crumbled
3 eggs, well beaten
Salt
Method
Prepare Filling
1. Clarify butter by bringing it to a low bowl in a small sauce pan. Simmer for a few minutes until butter is clear and salt is visible on the bottom of the pan. Do not brown. Set aside
2. Thaw spinach in a colander in the sink. Do not rinse. Squeeze all liquid. Place in a large bowl. Loosen the compressed spinach.
3. Chop green onions and place in a smaller bowl with one tablespoon salt. With your hands, roughly squeeze the salt and onions. Then rinse the onions thoroughly and squeeze out all liquid. Combine with spinach and mix well.
4. Sprinkle spinach mixture with 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter and mix well.
5. Add cottage cheese, feta cheese, eggs and mix well.
6. Add 1/2 cup butter to the oil and stir.
Assemble
1. First layer: Cover the bottom and side of pan with two layers of filo (6 sheets: overlapping two horizontally and four vertically, draping slightly over the edges of the pan.) Take another sheet, scrunch together and break in the middle. Lightly stuff these in the sides and corners. Sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
2. Second layer: take a handful of spinach mixture and drop little blobs all around. Do not spread, but make sure there are little blobs everywhere.
3. Third layer: Place a single layer of filo (overlapping two vertically, but not draping over the sides as in step 1), and sprinkle or brush with butter mixture.
4. Repeat second and third layers.
5. Cut off extra filo from around the edges, scrunch up and scatter around the center of the previous filo layer.
6. Repeat second and third layers twice.
7. Place 2 additional sheets of filo on top, gently tucking in the edges.
8. Sprinkle or brush generously with butter mixture.
9. With a sharp knife make parallel, diagonal cuts. Do not cut through bottom layer.
10. Sprinkle generously with water.
Baking
1. Bake in a 350 degree preheated over for 30 minutes. Top layers will have puffed up somewhat.
2. Remove from oven. With sharp knife cut between the pieces on the same lines.
3. Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and pour off any liquid.
5. Return to oven and bake 10-15 minutes more. Top layer should be crispy, flaky and golden with light brown around the edges.
