Cooking with Athena

This week Olympia's mum Athena came in to cook and make...


Spanakopita

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 brown onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 600g baby spinach, washed, dried, trimmed
• 1/4 cup dill leaves, chopped
• 900g Greek feta cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 375g packet filo pastry
• 100g butter, melted

Method

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until soft. Add spinach and dill. Remove from heat. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes or until spinach wilts. Transfer to a sieve. Using a wooden spoon, press as much liquid from spinach mixture as possible. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add feta, pepper and egg. Season with salt. Mix well to combine.

2. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 5cm deep, 30cm x 38cm (base) baking dish (see note).

3. Place 1 pastry sheet on workbench. Brush with melted butter. Top with 2 pastry sheets. Brush with butter. Continue to layer pastry, brushing every second layer with butter, to form 10 layers. Use pastry layers to line base of baking dish. Spoon spinach mixture over pastry.

4. Using remaining 10 pastry sheets and butter, repeat step 3. Use pastry layers to cover spinach filling. Using a sharp knife, score top of pastry into 24 squares. Brush top with butter. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely in pan. Refrigerate, covered, for 4 hours or overnight if time permits.

5. Cut spanakopita into squares. Serve warm or cold.