Spanakopita

Hubby had to go back to Melbourne for a week or so, and I decided to go up and stay with the family rather than be a hermit. In the process of cleaning out the fridge, I decided to make some spanakopita rolls. These are strong and cheesy and great for lunch, dinner, or a snack. The original recipe calls for 2 eggs to be added to the mixture, but I forgot to put them in. It tasted pretty good with out them.

Spanakopita (Printable Recipe)
adapted from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion, pg 928
makes 12

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
150g baby spinach, chopped
2 tbsp chopped mint
2tbsp chopped parsley
pinch nutmeg
125g fetta crumbled
125g ricotta
50g freshly grated pecorino
40g butter, melted
12 sheets filo

Preheat oven to 180°C

Saute onion in oil until softened. Add spinach and nutmeg and cook stirring occasionally until spinach has softened and shrunk. Add parsley and mint and stir through. Allow to cool. Add cheeses and stir to combine.



Lay 2 sheets of filo out, one of top of the other. Cut in half lengthways. Place a log of the mixture at one end of the filo rectangles, and butter the rest. Roll each up like a cigar. Repeat with the 10 remaining sheets. I find that you don't need to butter every layer and it certainly makes them a little bit healthier.

Brush tops of cigars with butter and put onto a baking tray. Bake for about 25 mins until the filo is nice and golden on top.

These are quite cheesy, but that's the way I like them. Try not to overstuff the cigars as the mixture may explode out the side or the ends of the cigars as they are cooking. Serve warm or cold. These lose their crunchiness if kept in the fridge, but still taste great! I think this would also make great canapes using the filo as a pastry cup by lining a mini muffin tin with the filo and putting the mixture into the cup.