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Spinach and cheese open pita – rectangular baking dish

Course Snack
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Thawing time 2 hours
Servings 10 people
Author Eleni Georges

Ingredients

Filling

  • 250 g frozen spinach, thawed, 1 cup or use fresh spinach see notes1
  • 150 g goat feta, 3/4 cup loosely packed when crumbled
  • 100 g ricotta, ½ cup
  • 50 g parmesan cheese shredded or graviera, ½ cup
  • 120 g greek yoghurt, ½ cup
  • 1 spring/green onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp dry mint
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp salt

Assembly

  • 12 phyllo sheets, thawed
  • 50 g salted butter
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  1. Thaw the phyllo by taking it out of the fridge and letting it come to room temperature in its pack for at least 2 hours and if you are using frozen spinach then thaw that as well (see note 2). Otherwise please read note 1 on how to prepare fresh spinach. When you are ready to assemble the pita preheat the oven to 170°C.
  2. To prepare the filling simply smash the feta and ricotta in a bowl. Squeeze out the liquid from the spinach with your hands, use kitchen scissors or a knife to roughly cut it smaller chunks and then add it in the bowl. Continue by adding the rest of the filling ingredients and mix everything with a spoon until well combined and set aside.
  3. Melt the butter and then stir in the olive oil. Place the phyllo sheets you need under a damp cloth and return the rest of the phyllo wrapped well in the plastic and then its container, back in the fridge.
  4. Line the baking dish with baking paper or brush it with butter well around all the sides. I used a large rectangular shaped dish with a 26cm width and 33cm length. I chose that size baking dish as the phyllo was able to fit perfectly along its width and I didn’t need to add anymore on the sides.
  5. Get one phyllo sheet and place it in front of you along its length (see photos above for clarity). Then brush all the edges well with the oil/butter mixture and then the inside. Add another phyllo on top and repeat the brushing.

  6. The filling will be split six times to create 6 separate spinach and cheese filled fans. So get 1/6 of the filling and place it randomly on the phyllo sheets. Use the back of the spoon to smear the filling on the phyllo so it can spread a bit more. Then use your two thumbs to push the phyllo upwards hence creating a fan shape. Place the fan along the width of the rectangular dish and repeat the process until all the filling and phyllo pastry are finished. In the end you should have 6 filled fans joined next to each other in the baking dish.

  7. Brush the phyllo on top with the remaining oil/butter, whisk the egg and milk together and pour it all over the phyllo. Place it in the oven for 35min or until golden brown.

Recipe Notes

1. To use fresh spinach wash and sauté 300g of baby spinach leaves with a little with of olive oil, Cook until they just slightly wilt. Then once it cools down squeeze the excess liquid and continue as per instructions above.
2. The spinach I typically use was from the frozen aisle of Aldi and it is less than $1 for a 250g pack. I also used a separate brand from Woolworths (Bell farms brand) but it was prepare very fine, almost blended. There was heaps more liquid released and actually 2 packs (500g) of the Woolworths (Bell farms brand) ended up being a bit less than a cup. Unlike the Aldi brand which I got 1 cup worth of spinach from just 1 pack 250g.