Maybe my Greek readers (I know I have at least three) are thinking this is not the way to make spanakopita. In my defense I can only say that I don’t know how to make phyllo dough and that this dish is only a variation of the way my mom makes it (she uses puff pastry) As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know it was a Greek dish until Andy pointed it out in a comment.

That’s when everything made sense. My mom had a Greek friend in Mexico City who made amazing food, and taught us to dance Greek music (oh yeah! I was dancing Sirtaki when I was 12. Now get up and dance with me!) My mom probably learned to make this recipe from her, and I didn’t know until a couple of months ago. I have been eating this delicious Greek snack for many years and I just found out what it is called. I must retreat to my corner now.

Anyway, since Andy mentioned it I’ve been wanting to make it. Finally yesterday I got some spinach and made something based on the original recipe. Like I mentioned above I don’t know how to make phyllo dough and I wasn’t in the mood to spend 2 hours making puff pastry so I used this whole wheat pie crust recipe.

And this is what I did for the filling:

• I washed 8 ounces of spinach and dumped them in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then I drained them. I added some kosher salt to the water first.
• In a sauce pan I sauteed 1/2 chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves over olive oil. I added the spinach, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 ounces of cream cheese, pepper and a pinch of salt.
• I cooked it only until the cream cheese melted, added 1 egg and pour it on the pie crust.
• I baked it for 20 minutes at 325° F.

My verdict? It was delicious. Maybe not as good as the one our dear friend used to make, but good enough. I need to start cooking more Greek food (along with Italian, Spanish and Asian) and I think this is a very good start.

If you want to make the authentic dish, here is the real deal

Buen provecho!