Spinach & Feta Puff Pastry (Spanakopita)

This delicate and delicious Hors d'oeuvre or appetizer is Greek inspired including feta cheese and pine nuts - A great starter for a dinner party. Don’t forget to keep the puff pastry in the fridge until you’re absolutely ready to work with it!

Ingredients

·         1 large bunch of fresh spinach

·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

·         5-6 garlic cloves, minced

·         1 large sweet onion, chopped (Vidalia or other sweet onion)

·         1 to 1-1/2 ounces toasted pine nuts

·         ¼ pound feta cheese, crumbled

·         2 sheets of puff pastry (packaged frozen is just fine)

·         1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons of cold water (Egg wash)

Preparation – The Filling

·         Steam the spinach just until wilted and set aside for 10-15 minutes to cool.

·         Meanwhile, in a medium sauté pan, heat the pine nuts on medium-high for 2-3 minutes, moving the nuts around to evenly toast, set aside.

·         Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes.

·         Add the garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.

·         Add the pine nuts and stir into the onion-garlic mixture for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

·         When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as possible, handful by handful, and add to a bowl.

·         Add the onion, garlic and pine nut mixture to the bowl, along with the feta cheese. Stir to mix well.

Working with Puff Pastry

Assuming that you’re using frozen pastry, when you remove the pastry from the box you’ll have two sheets, tri-folded to work with. Don’t worry, that’s all you need – just work with one pastry sheet at a time, leaving the other in the fridge until ready to work with. It is essential that puff pastry stay as cool as possible at all times until it’s time to bake.

·         Remove ONE pastry sheet from the package and return the other to the fridge until you’re ready to work with it.

·         Sprinkle flour on the pastry sheet. This will make it much easier to work with. (You will probably have to sprinkle more flour onto the pastry as you work with it)

·         Next, cut the tri-folded pastry sheet vertically down the fold lines, making 3 long strips.

·         Cut each strip horizontally into 3 squares, making 9 squares from the 3 long strips.

Filling the Pastry 

·        Pre-Heat the oven to 350 degrees

·        Place a tablespoon or so of the spinach mixture on the first pastry square, filling the pastry diagonally, corner to corner and leaving ½ inch at the ends - Don’t overfill or the pastry will burst when baking!

·        Once you have the filling in place, fold the pastry dough corner to corner, making a triangle shape with the filling covered in the middle.

·        Seal the triangle by folding the dough back onto itself with your fingers or crimp the edges – just get a good seal. Don't worry if it's not pretty , it will be just fine when it's baked and puffed out!

*Repeat with the other 8 squares from the first sheet of pastry. When you finish with the first sheet, remove the second pastry sheet from the fridge and repeat the entire process until finished forming all the pastry triangles.

Brush each pastry with the egg wash just before placing in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Delicate deliciousness!