Spinach Börek/ Spanakopita

Spinach borek is both a Turkish and Greek authentic savory pastry. It is in the borek family of pastries with a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions or scallions, eggs, and seasoning that are all enfolded by crispy, flaky phyllo dough.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. fresh spinach, washed, dried, trimmed, and coarsely chopped
• 3 tbsps  olive oil
• 1 bunch scallions white and light-green parts only, trimmed and finely  chopped
• 1 large onion
• 2 cups crumbled feta cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
•  salt, black pepper
• 1 sugar cube
• eighteen 9x14-inch sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed and at room temperature.
• 1 1/2 cups melted unsalted butter

How To:

Heat a 10-inch saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the grated onions, a sugar cube and 2 tablespoons oil. Cook until translucent. Place them in a bowl. Set aside. Using the same pan, heat it again over medium heat,  add a few large handfuls of the spinach and cook, tossing gently with tongs. As the spinach starts to wilt, add the rest a few handfuls at a time. Cook until all the spinach is wilted and bright green, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the spinach to a colander set in a sink. Let cool slightly and squeeze with your hands to extract as much of the remaining liquid as you can.

Wipe the pan dry with a paper towel. Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook until soft and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the spinach, and the cooked onions. Turn off the heat, and let cool for 5 minutes. Then stir in the cheeses, eggs, dill, parsley, nutmeg, black pepper and 1/2 tsp. salt and mix thoroughly.

Gently unfold the phyllo dough. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on a large cutting board and gently brush with the melted butter. Place a second phyllo sheet on top of the first and brush with butter. Repeat 2 more times until you have a stack of 4 phyllo sheets with butter brushed between the layers.

Using a sharp knife, cut the phyllo sheets lengthwise into 3 strips. Place 2 tablespoons of the spinach filling 1 inch from the bottom end of each strip.Take the bottom right corner of the strip between your thumb and finger and fold over the spinach filling to the left to make a triangle. Gently pull up the bottom left corner and fold up to make a second triangle. Continue folding until you reach the top. Place the triangle, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet.

Brush the completed triangle lightly with butter. Repeat with the remaining strips and phyllo sheets until all of the filling is used. Arrange the triangles 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and heated all the way through. Remove the "spinach börek" from the oven and cool slightly on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

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