Spanikopita Pie

Foreword

Spanikopita is one of Ida’s favorite dishes. It has everything she wants: micronutrient rich spinach, regular rich cheese and pastry … and salty salt. This is a fast and easy version.

Ingredients

• 32 oz chopped frozen spinach
• 1 bunch fresh dill, finely chopped or 1 Tbsp dried dill
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 1 premade pie crust
• 8 oz cubed or crumbled feta cheese
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 extra large yellow onion
• 1 tsp salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• Optional: 1 bunch parsley

Directions

1. Thaw the spinach. If the pie crust is frozen, also take it out to thaw.
2. Preheat the oven to 450°F, using convection bake mode.
3. Thinly slice (or mince, if you prefer) the onion.
4. Caramelize the onion in a pan on medium heat using the 4 Tbsp oil, ~20 minutes. Mix in the dill in the last minute of cooking.
5. While the onions caramelize, blind bake the crust: first place the pie crust in a 9.5 or 10 inch pan, trim the overhang if any, and poke the bottom with a fork a few times. Then place in the oven for ~8 minutes, or until just barely browned.
6. Chop all the herbs.
7. Once the spinach is partially or fully thawed, squeeze out most of the liquid; it doesn’t need to be precise, the final volume is usually ⅔ to ½ the original size.
8. Beat the eggs until combined. Then dump all the green ingredients as well as the salt, pepper, feta, and onions into the egg mixture, being careful not to crush the crumbled feta.
9. Pour the mixture in the baking dish.
10. Decorate the top of the pie with any excess pie crust.
11. Bake at 450°F until pie crust has browned, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.