Name: Spanakopita
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1 kg spinach; 1 tsp fine salt; 6 spring onions; 2 tbsp olive oil; 250 g feta; 2 eggs; 25 g dill; 15 g flat-leaf parsley; a scrape nutmeg; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 16 sheets filo pastry; 80 g melted butter; 4 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Prep: 45m
Cook: 50m
Waiting: 20m
Total: 1h 55m
Serves: 8
Effort: Involved

Scale

Units

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.

Spanakopita — recipe grid
1 kg	Salt the spinach, then wring it out in a tea towel 20m You want a tight, dry ball. Expect to pour away a mugful of green water.	Mix the filling until it holds together in a spoon 10m	Layer eight sheets, the filling, then eight more, brushing every sheet 20m Brush oil and butter right to the edges. Dry filo curls away and browns unevenly.	Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 50 minutes, then rest 20 before cutting 1h 10m Score the top layers into portions before it goes in. Cutting baked filo shatters it.
1 tsp
6	Soften without colouring 8m
2 tbsp	Soften without colouring 8m
250 g
2
25 g
15 g
a scrape
1/2 tsp
16 sheets
80 g
4 tbsp
1 tbsp

Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 2h 8m of hands-on and cooking time.

Salt the spinach, then wring it out in a tea towel
20m
- spinach 1 kg
- fine salt 1 tsp
You want a tight, dry ball. Expect to pour away a mugful of green water.
Soften without colouring
8m
- spring onions 6
- olive oil 2 tbsp
Mix the filling until it holds together in a spoon
10m
- from 1 Salt the spinach, then wring it out in a tea towel
- from 2 Soften without colouring
- feta 250 g
- eggs 2
- dill 25 g
- flat-leaf parsley 15 g
- nutmeg a scrape
- black pepper 1/2 tsp
Layer eight sheets, the filling, then eight more, brushing every sheet
20m
- from 3 Mix the filling until it holds together in a spoon
- filo pastry 16 sheets
- melted butter 80 g
- olive oil 4 tbsp
Brush oil and butter right to the edges. Dry filo curls away and browns unevenly.
Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 50 minutes, then rest 20 before cutting
1h 10m
- from 4 Layer eight sheets, the filling, then eight more, brushing every sheet
- sesame seeds (optional) 1 tbsp
Score the top layers into portions before it goes in. Cutting baked filo shatters it.

Spanakopita, easy version — recipe grid
900 g	Squeeze the spinach dry and stir everything together 12m Frozen spinach is already broken down, so it gives up its water with one hard squeeze.	Line the tin with six sheets, add the filling, then scrunch the rest over the top 12m Ruffled pastry has more surface, so it crisps better than a flat lid even when handled roughly.	Bake at 190°C / 375°F for 45 minutes until the ridges are dark gold 45m
250 g
2
6
20 g
1/2 tsp
12 sheets
6 tbsp

Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 1h 9m of hands-on and cooking time.

Squeeze the spinach dry and stir everything together
12m
- frozen chopped spinach 900 g
- feta 250 g
- eggs 2
- spring onions 6
- dill 20 g
- black pepper 1/2 tsp
Frozen spinach is already broken down, so it gives up its water with one hard squeeze.
Line the tin with six sheets, add the filling, then scrunch the rest over the top
12m
- from 1 Squeeze the spinach dry and stir everything together
- filo pastry 12 sheets
- olive oil 6 tbsp
Ruffled pastry has more surface, so it crisps better than a flat lid even when handled roughly.
Bake at 190°C / 375°F for 45 minutes until the ridges are dark gold
45m
- from 2 Line the tin with six sheets, add the filling, then scrunch the rest over the top

Water is the enemy

A kilo of raw spinach carries close to 900 g of water. Salt it and the cells lose turgor within minutes, so what would have taken force now comes out with a twist of a tea towel. Any water left behind turns to steam under the pastry, and steam trapped beneath filo makes the base sodden while the top browns happily — the classic failure.

Butter and oil together is a small hedge. Butter browns and tastes of itself; oil has no water in it at all, so it fries the sheets rather than steaming them.

Notes

Filo dries out in about a minute uncovered. Damp cloth, always.
Crumble the feta by hand into rough pieces so you get salty pockets.
Reheat at 180°C for ten minutes. A microwave undoes all of the above.

Method

Salt the spinach, then wring it out in a tea towel

Soften without colouring

Mix the filling until it holds together in a spoon

Layer eight sheets, the filling, then eight more, brushing every sheet

Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 50 minutes, then rest 20 before cutting

Squeeze the spinach dry and stir everything together

Line the tin with six sheets, add the filling, then scrunch the rest over the top

Bake at 190°C / 375°F for 45 minutes until the ridges are dark gold

Water is the enemy

Notes