Greek · Starter · Medium
Spanakopita
Shattering layers of buttery phyllo wrapped around spinach, feta, and fresh herbs. Eat it warm from the pan and listen for the crunch.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Spanakopita, in 5 ideas
- Squeezing the spinach completely dry is non-negotiable; wet spinach makes soggy pastry.
- Keep the phyllo covered with a damp tea towel while you work so the edges do not dry and crack.
- Scoring before baking gives clean wedges and lets steam escape.
- Ricotta softens the filling so it is creamy rather than crumbly.
- It reheats well in the oven at 180C, never the microwave, which kills the crunch.
What you need
Ingredients
- 500g fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped
- 300g feta, crumbled
- 150g ricotta
- 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 30g fresh dill, chopped
- 30g fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 12 sheets phyllo pastry, thawed
- 100g unsalted butter, melted
How to make it
Directions
- Wilt the spinach in a large dry pan over high heat, 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer to a clean tea towel and squeeze out every drop of liquid.
- Chop the squeezed spinach finely and mix with the feta, ricotta, spring onions, dill, parsley, eggs, and pepper.
- Brush a 23cm round pan generously with melted butter and lay in the first phyllo sheet, letting the edges overhang, brushing each sheet with butter as you layer 6 sheets.
- Spread the spinach filling evenly over the pastry base.
- Layer the remaining 6 sheets on top, buttering each one, then fold the overhanging edges up over the top to seal.
- Brush the top with more butter, score the top layers into 6 wedges with a sharp knife, and sprinkle with a few drops of water.
- Bake at 190C for 35 to 40 minutes until deeply golden and crisp all over.
- Cool 10 minutes before cutting through the scored lines and serving.
Frozen spinach costs far less than fresh for this: thaw one 500g block, squeeze it bone dry, and it performs identically.