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!

"Death by Pumpkin" Pumpkin Pie

You've heard of 'Death by Chocolate', well this is the pumpkin version! Yes, yes I know, this is a healthy blog and we’re not supposed to talk about ‘bad, fattening food’. Well, facing reality, the truth is that when certain holidays come around, we’re all going to cheat a little. After all, we’re talking about maybe 3-4 days out of the year…and that leaves 361 to do the right thing. Besides, this pie isn't that bad for you! Anyway, I’m not a pumpkin pie lover by any means, but I helped my cousin Karla make this pie for Thanksgiving and it is one of the most incredible pies I’ve ever eaten. Without question, this is the very best pumpkin pie I have ever put in my mouth. You missed it for Thanksgiving so I suggest you put the ingredients on your shopping list for Christmas!

Ingredients – Filling (8 servings)

·         1 ¾ pound of pumpkin meat, pureed (if you get canned get a good quality!)

·        3/4 cup dark brown sugar

·         2 cans of unsweetened evaporated milk

·         2 eggs beaten thoroughly

·         1 teaspoon finely ground sea salt

·         ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon ground ginger

·         ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

·         ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Ingredients - Crust

• ½  cup whole-wheat pastry flour  (Whole-wheat pastry flour contains less gluten than regular whole-wheat flour and helps ensure a tender result in delicate baked goods.)
• ½  cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼  teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (I know, I know – but you’re only going to eat 1 slice)
• 1/8  cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1-1/2  tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• 1 large egg white, beaten, for brushing

Preparation

To Make The Crust:

·         Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

·         Cut butter into small pieces and, with your fingers, quickly rub them into the dry ingredients until smaller but still visible.

·         Add sour cream and oil; toss with a fork to combine with the dry ingredients.

·         Sprinkle water over the mixture. Toss with a fork until evenly moist.

·         Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl a few times; the mixture will still be a little crumbly.

·         Turn out onto a clean surface and knead a few more times, until the dough just holds together. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using – the colder the better.

To Make The Filling:

·         Blend all filling ingredients thoroughly.

Putting it all together:

·         Remove the dough from the refrigerator; let stand for 5 minutes to warm slightly.

·         Roll dough between sheets of parchment or wax paper into a thinnish 12-inch circle.

·         Peel off the top sheet and invert the dough into a 9-inch pie pan. Peel off the remaining paper.

·         Moisten the outer edge of the dough with water.

·         Place dough into a pie pan, making sure that the dough is ‘seated’ fully into the pan and leaving 1“ extra at the top of the pan. (you may have to trim off any excess dough)

·         Roll the extra dough under itself to create a thick, high-edged crust at the top of the pie pan.

Flute the top edges of dough by using one hand on the inside of the pan and one hand on the outside of the pan and pushing the dough with the index finger on the inside hand between the thumb and index finger fingers on the outside hand, creating a ‘U’ shape, at 1 inch intervals all around the top of the pie.

 

·         Fill pie pan with filling and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Let cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before serving. Serve with a dollop of homemade whipped cream (Optional)

Nutrition

Per serving: 190 calories; 5 g fat ( 2 g sat , 3 g mono ); 40 mg cholesterol; 11 g added sugars; 4 g protein; 2 g fiber; 90 mg sodium; 240 mg potassium.