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Spanakopita
(Greek Spinach And Cheese Pie)
2 lbs. fresh spinach
1 lb. filo dough
1/2 lb. feta cheese
7 eggs
1 onion, diced
Dice the onion and sauté it until golden brown. While the onion is cooking, wash the spinach. Put it in a bowl and rub lots of salt into it. Let the spinach and salt sit for 15 minutes. This is meant to reduce the volume of spinach. An alternative to this is to barely steam the spinach (30-60 seconds). Beat the eggs. Crumble the feta cheese and add to the eggs. Note that feta cheese is fairly salty. You can replace half or all of it with ricotta cheese. Rinse all the salt out of the spinach. Add it and the onions to the eggs/cheese and mix. Also add some spices. The original recipes calls for salt, pepper, and oregano. I use basil. Melt some butter (at least 2 oz.) Butter the bottom of a 9 1/3" baking dish. Lay the filo down one layer at a time, brushing butter on each layer. Turn each successive layer a little so they are not all piled directly on top of each other. The filo will hang over the sides of the dish. Continue until you have 3-5 sheets of filo left. Pour the filling into the filo. Fold the filo that hangs over the side over the filling. Place the last pieces of filo on top, buttering each as you go. Trim off the filo that hangs over the edge of the dish. These last pieces serve to cover the filling. Make two or three slits with a knife in the top layers of filo that go all the way down to the filling. Bake at 375 F for 50 minutes. Serves 8
“Gastronomers of the year 1825, who find sateity in the lap of abundance, and dream of some newly-made dishes, you will not enjoy the discoveries which science has in store for the year 1900, such as foods drawn from the mineral kingdom, liqueurs produced by the pressure of a hundred atmospheres; you will never see the importations which travelers yet unborn will bring to you from that half of the globe which has still to be discovered or explored. How I pity you!"
Jean-Antheleme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
Almonds and pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the Bible.
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