Making Spanakopita From Scratch Is Easier Than You'd Think

While my family has absolutely no Greek heritage, my mom taught me the wonders of phyllo dough back in grade school. Since then, I've appreciated all the fancy dishes that can be made from it, especially spanakopita, my personal favorite.

Phyllo is a type of Greek pastry composed of paper-thin sheets of dough, which provide a unique texture in desserts like baklava. Spanakopita, also known as spinach and feta-stuffed triangles, show the versatility of phyllo because, yes, it is just as tasty as an appetizer. 

Phyllo can be a bit daunting at first. It dries out easily, so when not in use it needs to be kept under a damp towel. However, the beauty of spanakopita is that no matter how many tears, holes or dried-out corners the strip of phyllo starts with, the completed triangle will still look mouth-wateringly amazing once you roll them up.

Rolling up the strips one by one can be a bit time consuming, so I highly recommend inviting friends over for a fun afternoon featuring some Greek food and good fun. Once you get the hang of it, you might even be able to roll up a spanakopita faster than you can say it.

Spanakopita

• Prep Time:1 hr
• Cook Time:20 mins
• Total Time:1 hr 20 mins
• Servings:40
• Medium

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1 lb feta cheese
• 1 package frozen spinach
• 1 lb thawed phyllo pastry
• 1 cup melted butter

• Step 1

  Beat the cream cheese and eggs with an electric mixer until fluffy. Crumble the feta cheese into the mixture and combine on low speed. Then, add thawed spinach to the cheese mixture, and stir just until incorporated.

  

• Step 2

  Preheat oven to 375ºF. Remove the stack of phyllo from the box, unroll, and immediately cover with a damp towel. Take one sheet of phyllo, immediately re-covering the rest of the stack with the damp towel, and cut the sheet into relatively 6" by 12" strips. Brush half of each strip with melted butter and fold over lengthwise. Then, brush with butter again.

  

• Step 3

  Plop a teaspoon of the mixture at one end of each strip of phyllo. Then, roll each strip up as shown in the picture below.

  

• Step 4

  Transfer the triangles to a cookie sheet and brush the tops with melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm.

  

Try making Spanakopita just once and I promise you'll be returning to the store for more phyllo because of its addicting nature.

#SpoonTip: Freeze half the triangles before baking, so you'll have a stash to last you a while.

Super Bowl Sunday is quickly approaching, and wouldn't it be handy to have a few dozen triangles to pop into the oven? Serve them to your friends and they'll be an instant hit—or just keep them all for yourself... Either way, no regrets here.