Nelly's "Greek Festival" Spanakopita

This is a great recipe adapted from Food 52. It's a traditional Savory Pastry. It would make a nice entrée for Easter Dinner.

"Nelly started cooking at the age of six, when she joined her mother in the kitchen. “There was nothing else to do in my village!" she told me. All of her recipes come from her childhood home on the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece."

Nelly's "Greek Festival" Spanakopita

Here's what you'll need:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
1 - 9" X 13" Metal Baking Dish (you can use glass but I like metal for this recipe)

FILLING:

4 Pounds of Frozen Chopped Spinach, drained and squeezed thoroughly in paper towels.
4 TBS Butter
5 Green Onions, thinly sliced.
1/2 C of Chopped Fresh Dill
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
5 Eggs, beaten
24 oz. of Cottage Cheese
1 1/2 pounds of Feta Cheese, broken into small pieces.
1/2 C Olive Oil

DOUGH:

1 - Package of Phyllo Dough #4 (Apollo brand)
1 - Pound of Clarified Butter

In a Skillet on Medium Heat:
Green Onion
Cook for 3 - 5 minutes.
Transfer to a Large Bowl.
Add:
Dill
Salt
Pepper
Egg
Cottage Cheese
Feta
Spinach
Olive Oil
Fold together with a Silicone Spatula just until combined well trying not to break up the Feta pieces. Try not to over mix.

Butter the Casserole Dish with 4 TBS of Butter.
Unroll the Dough onto a flat surface.
Have a damp Tea Towel available to cover the dough while you're prepare the recipe.

Gently peel back 1 sheet of dough and lay it in the Casserole Dish. It should be placed "crumbled", not stretched out flat. This creates a textured layer.

Brush generously with clarified butter.
Continue this process until you've used half of the Dough, approximately 10 - 15 sheets.

Evenly spread the Filling over the Phyllo making sure to get it into the corners.
Continue buttering the remaining sheets of dough (reserving 3 sheets) with butter and lay them crumpled over the filling.
Tightly wrap the final, buttered layers on top and brush the top layer with butter.

Score the top of the dough about 1/2" deep with a sharp paring knife. Cut into the dough 6 lines X 4 lines creating squares.
Brush again with butter to allow the pieces to remain intact while baking.
Tuck some of the border dough neatly into the sides of the pan using a knife and brush the border with a final coating of butter.

Bake for 1 1/2 Hours until golden brown.

Remove the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes.
Cut the squares deeply to serve.
Serve warm.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

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