Sorta Speedy Shortcut Spanakopita

If you frequent this blog, (thank you, by the way) you probably will have noticed that I use filo pastry pretty often. This is partly coincidence, and partly because when I buy filo dough, the boxes have about 30+ sheets in them. It's not the best idea to thaw and refreeze it all, so here we go again; here's one more of the million and one ways to use filo.

Spanakopita is Greek spinach pie. Here, crispy phyllo is wrapped around a filling of spinach, onion, feta cheese, and egg. It's a tasty way to get your veg and its portability makes it a good picnic candidate too.

This is one of hundreds of different versions. I take a shortcut by using frozen spinach; if you want to cook and drain a couple pounds of fresh spinach, then by all means go for it. There are also recipes that call for dill, parsely, or green onion. Some are built in a pan and then served in slices. I like to make mine this way because you get more crunchy pastry per serving.

I made this with some feta that I had frozen (gasp!) (A note on frozen feta: some people say never to do this, but I thought it tasted fine after it thawed. Just put it in something rather than eating it plain in, say, a salad because the texture changes a little.)

Spanakopita

10 sheets of thawed phyllo dough
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2x 10 ounce packages of frozen spinach, thawed
6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspooon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

In a medium sized saute pan, onions in olice oil until translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook another 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

Drain the spinach well. (Really well, until no more liquid comes out when you squeeze it. I like to squeeze a bunch between two plates.)

In a large bowl, beat eggs with pepper and oregano. Add onion mixture, spinach, and feta cheese and stir until combined.

Brush one filo sheet with melted butter (cover the others with a damp towel so that they don't dry out). Place another sheet on top. With a pizza cutter, split the sheet in three (so you have three short rectangles). Place a scant 1/4 cup of filling at one end of each rectangle and roll as you would a tortilla wrap (fold the sides in when the spanakopita is half rolled).

Place on a baking sheet and brush the tops with melted butter. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 15 egg roll-sized spanakopita.

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Acropolis Not Included: Souvlaki Salmon with Greek Orzo

Today, we travel to Greece for this light and refreshing summer supper. On the menu tonight: souvlaki inspired salmon, served alongside a Greek orzo salad. Orzo is rice shaped pasta. I love it because you get the approximate effect of rice, and it's much easier and faster to cook. The small "grains" soak up flavour really well too. The Greek vinaigrette doubles as both salad dressing and marinade. Two birds, one stone.
For a little extra oomph I roasted the bell pepper. And rather than grilling it outside, I did it over the gas burner. Don't worry, the skewered blackening pepper isn't going to burst into flames.

How to roast a pepper indoors on a gas burner:

-Skewer the stem end of the pepper with a two-pronged fork (the kind you use to carve a roast). Make sure you get it centered the first time, or else the pepper will wobble on the fork

-Do not oil or season the pepper

-Turn on the gas burner (the small one) and hold the pepper over the flame. Hold the pepper fairly close, about a half inch from the flame. It will pop and sizzle a little. Once one side is blackened, rotate the pepper until it is charred all over.

-Pop the pepper into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Steam for 5-10 minutes. Take out the pepper, peel it, and remove the seeds. Avoid running the pepper under water as you peel it so that you don't rinse off the flavour.

Souvlaki Marinated Salmon with Greek Orzo Salad:

2 lemons
Olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper

4 salmon fillets (~6 ounce portions)

1 1/4 cups orzo (cooked, drained and rinsed with cold water)
1 bell pepper (roasted, peeled, and diced)
1/3 cup cucumber (diced)
2 roma tomatoes (seeds scooped and diced)
1/3 cup feta cheese
3 green onions (chopped)
(Add red onion and olives, if desired)

In a small bowl, combine juice and zest of the lemon, garlic, oregano, honey, and pepper. Gradually whisk in olive oil (use three parts oil to one part lemon juice).

Reserve about 1/4 cup of the dressing, and pour the rest over the salmon. Marinade at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

In a large bowl, toss together orzo and diced vegetables. Crumble in feta in large chunks. Season the reserved 1/4 cup of dressing with salt and pour over orzo. Toss to combine. Chill while cooking salmon (even better if made a few hours in advance).

Remove salmon from the dressing and shake off the excess marinade. Season both sides with coarse salt. Heat olive oil in a frying pan until very hot (oil should shimmer, but not smoke). Cook salmon skin side up until browned, then flip and cook until done (about 2 minutes per side, depending on fillet thickness).

Serves 4.

Recipe and image property of beets and bites

Moussaka: My Big Fat Greek Casserole

No, this isn't a shepherd's pie. It's actually a little more like lasagna, without the pasta. Moussaka is a traditional Greek dish composed of layers of eggplant (and sometimes zucchini and potatoes), and a spiced meat sauce. The entire dish is topped with a creamy bechamel sauce. It's a bit prep intensive, but make a large batch of it and you will not mind having it several nights in a row. I hadn't realized that it would turn out so nicely so unfortunately, I made a pretty modest sized batch. I'd like to layer up the ingredients thicker the next time I make this.

I did a fairly thorough recipe search and the following recipe is an amalgamation of what I think are the best aspects of numerous other recipes, as well as my own edits.

A couple of notes on the bechamel sauce:
The nutmeg in it is amazing. Something about the spice plays so well with the milkiness of the sauce. Try it!
The whipped egg white is a bonus step (and is not crucial to the success of your moussaka). It makes the sauce souffle a little in the oven and brown better. It will collapse when you take it out of the oven, but the result is a creamy sauce that has a subtle "bubbliness" that I like.

It's a good idea to let the pan sit for a good 20-30 minutes after you take it out of the oven for two reasons: 1) The layers will set, making it easier to slice and keep its shape on the plate and, more importantly, 2) You won't burn your mouth off.

Moussaka

2 eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
Salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 cups canned tomato sauce

1/4 cup butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk, warmed on the stove or in a microwave
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 475F. Brush both sides of eggplant and zucchini slices with oil and season with salt. Place in a single layers on sheet pans and roast in the oven until browned and tender (about 7 minutes).

Meat Sauce:
In a large skillet over medium heat, saute chopped onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic and ground beef. Cook until beef is no longer pink. Add spices and saute 2 minutes longer until spices are fragrant. Add tomato sauce and simmer 20 minutes (or until the other layers' ingredients are assembled).
Bechamel Sauce:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and whisk to make a roux. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in milk, salt and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat while whisking until thickened. Simmer while whisking for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Whisk egg whites until firm peaks. Stir egg yolks into cooled bechamel and fold in egg whites.

Assembly:
Heat oven to 400F. Grease a 9x13 inch dish. Arrange roasted eggplant in one layer on the bottom of the dish. Spread half the meat sauce over top. Arrange roasted zucchini over the meat sauce in one layer. Top with remaining meat sauce.
Pour bechamel over the top of all the layers. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.
Bake moussaka until the top is puffed and brown, about 30 minutes.
Cool for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6 hungry diners

Recipe and image property of beets and bites