Recipe: Spinach and Feta Pie

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PIE-A-DAY #18

George Abou-Daoud of Urban Garden gave us this Spinach and Feta Pie.

It uses filo dough, sumac, and a blend of herbs like cinnamon, cardamom, and coriander.

Abou-Daoud recommends using feta cheese from Greece or Lebanon. He says it’s much tangier than imports from France or Bulgaria.

Read below for the recipe, and click here to enter YOUR delicious pie (or pies) in the 5th Annual Good Food Pie Contest on Saturday, September 7th at LACMA.

Spinach and Feta Pie 

(From George Abou-Daoud of Urban Garden)

Ingredients:

4 ½ lb. of spinach

1 cup of shallots

5 freshly squeezed lemons

2 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of fresh cracked black pepper

3 tbsp. of sautéed garlic & olive oil mash

2 tbsp. of sumac

2 tbsp. even blend of cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander

2 cups of feta cheese (Lebanese or Greek is much tangier and preferable than French or Bulgarian. These regions produce most of the imported feta we receive locally.)

2 packages of filo dough

1 lb. of butter

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the base of an 18” x 26” tray with butter to prevent filo dough from sticking.
  1. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté shallots and garlic until soft and lightly browned. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to sauté until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Add sumac and blend of cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coriander. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  1. Place feta cheese in a medium bowl. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of filo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with butter. Lay another sheet of filo dough on top, brush with butter, and repeat process with two more sheets of filo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with butter, then layer remaining 4 sheets of filo dough, brushing each with butter. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
  1. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.