Spanakopita - Savory Pocket Pie (1)

Tips for your next potluck party or picnic:

#1 - Bring something that you can serve at room temperature. You never know if you can reheat or cool your food on site. To be safe, prepare a food that you can enjoy at room temperature.

#2 - Finger foods, which is easy to eat without utensils. They are a party's best friend!

#3 - Last but not least, you want to bring something tasty that anyone can enjoy whether they are vegetarians or meat-lovers.

Okay... Do you have any good idea for your next party? How about bite size pocket pies? If you think pie is a sweet dessert, please think again. You can pretty much wrap any savory goodies in pastry dough and make savory pocket pies - vegetables, spices, shredded meats or ground meats. Yumm!

I am going to make two savory pocket pies. One from Greece and the other from India - spanakopita and samosa.

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie made with phyllo dough. All that flaky phyllo layered with brushed melted butter adds tremendous flavor and fun texture to the pie. Samosa is Indian savory dish (or Arabic or Persian... Oh, well... Let's say, South and Central Asia and Middle-East.) that usually includes potato, pea, onion, spices, and sometimes ground meat.

I am going to save my samosa recipe for the next week. Please stay tuned... :)

Spanakopita
(Yield: ~30 pocket pies / Cooking time: 1.5 hours)


Ingredients:

+ phyllo dough (one package, ~24 sheets)
+ melted butter (~about 2 Tbsp)
+ 16oz frozen chopped spinach
+ 6oz feta cheese
+ 4-5 sprigs of fresh oregano
+ 5-8 fresh basil leaves
+ 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
+ 1 egg
+ salt and pepper




Procedures:

1. Thaw frozen chopped spinach. Chop oregano leaves, basil leaves and garlic cloves.

2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Salt and pepper lightly --- because feta cheese is salty, you don't need a lot of salt.


3. Place a sheet of phyllo dough and brush with melted butter. Layer another sheet of phyllo dough and brush with melted butter again. Place unwrapped phyllo dough on a damp kitchen towel and cover with another damp towel or plastic wrap, otherwise, the dough will be dried out and you cannot properly wrap the spinach mixture with the dough.


4. Cut the phyllo dough into three strips horizontally, and spoon one Tbsp of spinach mixture on the edge of phyllo dough and wrap it into triangular shape.


5. Place the triangular pie into a baking sheet.

6. Bake the spanakopita in the oven (preheated 360°F(182°C)) for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.


7. Cool down over cooling rack.



Enjoy~