Spanikopita
3 or 4 large bunches of fresh spinach (frozen or canned spinach saves cleaning time)
1 large onion
1/2 cup fresh parsley (not Chinese parsley/coriander with the flat leaves, but parsley with curly leaves; many supermarkets have it)
1/2 cup fresh dill
about 1/4 teaspoon of mace powder
about 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper powder (or a few good shakes)
about 250 grams salted butter
1 box phyllo (filo) pastry
5 to 8 eggs (depending on the size of your pan)
about 150 - 200 grams feta cheese
THE FILLING
Clean the spinach well and chop it roughly (5 cm. size okay). Chop the onion a little smaller (about 2 cm. pieces). Put onions and spinach into a large pot with about 100 grams of margarine. Let it cook slowly on low heat until it is soft. Don't let it fry fast and turn brown. Add the chopped parsley and chopped dill, mace powder and black pepper powder. NOTE: Do not add salt here because the feta is very salty. Turn off the heat and let it cool a little while you do the next part.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer if you have one (hand-powered mixing is okay, too). Add in the feta cheese in crumbly pieces (about 1 cm.). Then add the cooked spinach mixture and mix a little with a spoon.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Take a large rectangular pan. If your oven and pans are smaller, you will have to make adjustments. Rub some butter or oil on the bottom and sides of the pan. Now open the phyllo--you will unwrap dough that looks like pieces of A3 paper. Unwrap it on a towel and keep it covered when you are not using it--it becomes dry very quickly and will fall apart if you do not cover it. Take the butter and melt it in a small pan.
Take one sheet of phyllo and place it on the bottom of the pan (I use a pan almost the size of the phyllo sheet; for a smaller pan, fold the sheet over. Then brush the phyllo with the melted butter. Continue layering with half the phyllo sheets, then pour the spinach and egg mixture on top of the layers. Use a spoon to make sure the filling is about evenly distributed. Continue layering the phyllo sheets and pour the last of the melted butter over the top of the last sheet on top.
Put the pan in the oven and bake it at about 160C for about 1/2 hour, until it puffs up and starts to turn a golden color. Be careful the top doesn't turn black. Better to turn down the heat or turn off the oven and let the pita finish cooking in the remaining heat.
EATING PITA
You can serve it warm as part of a meal. Or, after it cools, you can cut the contents into large pieces, cover each piece with aluminum foil, and store it in the freezer. Later, after you thaw it from the freezer, cut it into bite-size pieces and heat it in the oven before serving. This makes a great appetizer.
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