Tag: Greek cuisine

Recipe: Spanakopita (season finale)

The recipe for this delectable pie comes from years of research (read: eating a piece of every spanakopita I came across) and months of recipe testing. It’s not a wholly authentic recipe, as I have zero Greek heritage or cultural connections, but it is as close as I felt I could get to the perfect genuine Greek spanakopita. It’s the perfect balance of a golden, flaky, buttery crust, that is sturdy enough to hold its own against a rich, robust and flavoursome filling of spinach, herbs and cheese.… Read More Recipe: Spanakopita (season finale)

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Spanakopita series: episodes 4, 5 and 6 (recap)

At this point in my Spanakopita Test Kitchen journey, I was losing enthusiasm. I was still keen, however, to make my own phyllo.

I had looked at a recipe for authentic spanakopita complete with homemade phyllo, which showed the author’s mother rolling bedlinen-sized sheets of dough so thin you could read through it, using an obscenely long and thin rolling pin, before carefully rolling up logs of pie that curl into a silver tapsi for baking.

I am not a Greek yiayia, do not own said rolling pin or a tapsi, and figured my chances of rolling phyllo using this method were slim to nil.… Read More Spanakopita series: episodes 4, 5 and 6 (recap)

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Spanakopita series: episode 3

You could be forgiven for thinking that, after the success of my second pie, there wouldn’t be any more recipe attempting or tinkering.

But I was still itching to try my hand at homemade pastry and, in the interests of being thorough in my research, I still had at least three other recipes I wanted to try to experiment with for the filling.

Feeling invigorated by my recent success, I had another scan of my options.… Read More Spanakopita series: episode 3

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Spanakopita series: prologue

If you will allow me to wax nostalgic for a moment, let me tell you about the first time I discovered spanakopita (Greek spinach pie).

It was, of course, in Greece, on a trip with my sisters some 10 years ago. In Thessaloniki, we walked past a roadside shop with humongous trays full of the stuff sitting innocuously in the window.

Encased in a flaky yet tender, crumbly yet moist, golden crust, was a filling of hearty, bitter greens with the zip of an abundance of herbs, delicately balanced with the sweetness that only comes from slow-cooked alliums and peppered with salty white cheese. The rich indulgence of the cheese offset the earthy, herbaceous greens beautifully. The two pie elements were married perfectly, neither overpowering the other; the perfect ratio of pastry to stuffing.

Spanakopita had our hearts and our tastebuds.… Read More Spanakopita series: prologue

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