Spinach Chevre Pies

 Spinach Chevre Pies

The Spinach Chevre Pie, is basically my version of spanakopita. So what is spanakopita? It’s a Greek savory spinach pie, that typically is spinach or other greens mixed with feta cheese wrapped in phyllo dough. Now the origin of the dish itself, that gets a little hazy, to any of my readers who are Greek don’t yell at me for this, but from what I found on the interwebs, it’s said to actually have originated during the Turkish occupation of Greece.This makes sense because the area first occupied by the Ottoman forces was Greek Macedonia and Thrace in the late 1300s. This area is known for its shepherds and its pies or “pita.” Now whether the shepherds taught the invading Turks something or they kind of slammed together and created some sort of new ultra pie, is a story we may never truly know. What I do know is that after that time period, the spinach pie slowly came to fruition in Greece. The dish has very strong similarities to the Turkish dish, Börek, which is a similar dish that is typically comprised of some sort of filling inside a phyllo dough crust.

Phyllo dough, also not a Greek invention, the earliest indications of its use was in the 14th Century Ottoman Empire kitchen, where it’s indicated in being used for early forms of Baklava. I’m sure some variety of unleavened dessert dough existed before that since nothing exists in a vacuum in food.

Although, both of these things may not have been exactly invented by the Greeks, I would venture to say that most people in the Western world identify spanakopita & phyllo dough with Greek cuisine.

Spanakopita is a delicious and relatively healthy treat, it’s the darling of office parties and dinner parties. Instead of using feta in mine, I used Chevre. Chevre is just goat cheese essentially, it has a creamy and tangy flavor that lends itself to spinach. Why? Because spinach can have an overpowering flavor, so you want something to balance that so the eater isn’t just biting into a gigantic spinach bite. Boo veggies.

Since I have the dexterity of a three year old, I couldn’t really execute the full blown triangle fancy pie look. So being the oaf that I am, I just made them into squares. It seemed to work well enough.

Hope you enjoy!

P.S. if you don’t have Chevre, don’t worry just use feta or any other goat cheese.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 Package of Phyllo Dough

1 Package of Frozen Spinach or Fresh Spinach

12 Oz. Chevre Cheese

1 Egg Yolk

2 Tbsp. Butter

1 Tbsp. Salt

Method

Cook the spinach and then squeeze all excess liquid from spinach. I recommend using a metal colander for this or a fine metal mesh strainer. You really want to make sure you get all the excess liquid out.

Now in a mixing bowl, mix the spinach, chevre , and salt together.

Lay your phyllo sheets out flat, and brush with some melted butter. Take 3 buttered sheets and cut them into about 8 inch squares. Spoon in some of the spinach mix onto the phyllo. Then wrap the sheet in either a triangle or square.

Do this until you’re out of spinach mix. Now Brush the tops of the phyllo with a mixture of the egg yolk and melted butter.

Lay these out onto a grease baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Enjoy!