Ingredients
375g Antoniou Fillo Pastry
2 bunches English spinach, finely chopped (8 cups firmly packed)
1 teaspoon salt
8 spring onions/ shallots, finely chopped
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup mint, finely chopped
1/4 cup dill, finely chooped
Cracked pepper
400g Feta cheese, crumbled in chunks
2 eggs
2 Tbsp rice
¾ cup olive oil
Method
For this Fillo Pastry recipe, take your chilled Filo Pastry out of the fridge at least 2 hours before you begin, to bring it up to room temperature.
Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced. Grease a 30-33cm round baking tray with olive oil.
For the filling
Place the chopped spinach in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and mix. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Using your hands, one handful at a time, squeeze the excess liquid out of the spinach. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the spring onions, parsley, mint, pepper, Feta cheese, eggs and rice to the bowl and mix until well combined.
Assembling the pita
Grease a 30cm round baking tray.
Brush one sheet of Fillo Pastry with olive oil. Drape the Filo Pastry sheet in the base of the tray, allowing the excess Fillo to hang over. Repeat this process, using 6 sheets in total for the base. As you layer each sheet of Fillo, rotate them slightly so that the base covers evenly. Scrunch one sheet of Fillo Pastry loosely and place it in the base of the tray. Repeat this step with 3 more sheets of Pastry, covering the base evenly (this will help absorb any extra moisture from the filling).
Spread the filling evenly over the Fillo Pastry. Brush a sheet of Fillo Pastry with oil and lay the sheet over the filling. Allow the excess Fillo to overhang or sit against the sides of the tray. Repeat this process with the remaining Fillo Pastry, rotating each sheet slightly, so that the excess Fillo overhangs evenly against the edges of the tray. Take the overhanging Fillo and roll it into the outer edge of the pie. Brush with oil.
Using a sharp knife, cut the top layers of Fillo Pastry into squares. Bake for 60 minutes or until golden and crispy all over. Allow the pita to sit in the tray for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Watch how to make Yiayia’s Traditional Spanakopita