Spanakopita Lasagne Recipes

SPANAKOPITA LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the water to prevent noodles from sticking. Cook noodles for about 10 minutes, drain and set aside on a baking sheet. Do not overcook noodles as they will cook more in the oven.
• Prepare the Bechamel Sauce:
• In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk while continuing to whisk, until the sauce is smooth. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Set aside.
• Prepare the Spinach Filling:
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat, add half of the spinach, stirring until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the spinach, place in a colander and squeeze out excess liquid, and then roughly chop. Repeat the process with the remaining spinach.
• Heat the remaining olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in the saucepan and add the garlic. Saute until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes, then add scallions. Saute another 2 to 3 minutes until scallions are soft, then add the spinach along with the parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Stir the feta cheese and beaten egg into the cooled spinach mixture.
• Assemble the lasagna:
• Coat the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch lasagna pan with a thin layer of bechamel sauce. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise on the sauce, slightly overlapping each other. Pour 1/3 of the bechamel sauce over the noodles. Then add 1/3 of the spinach mixture, spreading it out evenly. Top the spinach mixture with 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan. Repeat with 2 more layers of noodles, sauce, spinach mixture, and Parmesan.
• For the topping, unroll the phyllo dough on a flat surface and keep it covered with a damp towel so that it doesn't dry out. Place a sheet of phyllo on top of the lasagna. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle some bread crumbs evenly. Top with another phyllo sheet, brush with more butter and sprinkle with more bread crumbs. Repeat with the 2 remaining layers of phyllo. Make sure the edges are nicely sealed with butter so that they don't curl up during the baking process. Top the final layer with a mixture of the remaining melted butter, bread crumbs, and Parmesan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, being careful not to overcook the phyllo. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Cut into squares and serve.

SPANOKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the scallions. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the scallions, dill, eggs, feta, salt, and pepper and mix together.
• Keep the phyllo dough sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel. Unfold 1 sheet of the phyllo dough. Brush the sheet with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Repeat the process by laying a second sheet of phyllo dough over the first sheet, brush it with melted butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs until all 10 sheets have been used. Spoon 3/4 cup of the spinach mixture into a sausage shape along one edge of the phyllo dough. Roll it up. Brush the top with butter and score the roll into 1-inch rounds. Place it on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all the pastry and filling have been used.
• Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Serve warm.

LIGHTER SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Pack the spinach into a large heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over and press the spinach down with a wooden spoon. Leave for 1 min to wilt, stirring a couple of times so all the leaves are submerged. Tip into a large colander and place under running cold water to cool quickly. Drain well - squeeze out any excess water by pressing the spinach down with the wooden spoon, then squeezing with your hands. Using kitchen paper, pat the spinach dry into a compact shape, lay it on a board and roughly chop, then set aside.
• Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the shallot, spring onions and garlic, and fry over a high-ish heat for 3-4 mins, stirring often, until softened and just starting to brown. Lower the heat, tip in the spinach and stir for 1 min only to finish drying. Season with pepper and a good pinch of nutmeg, and leave to cool.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and put a baking sheet in to heat up. In a bowl, stir the ricotta into the beaten egg and mix in the 2 tbsp dill, the chives and mint. Season with pepper and a pinch of salt.
• Lightly oil a 20cm square x 4cm deep cake tin. Mix the remaining oil with the 1 rounded tsp dill. Lay the filo pastry sheets on a large board. Brush the top one with a little of the dill oil, then carefully lower it into the tin to line the base and 2 of the sides, with an overhang on both sides. The pastry doesn't have to fit in smoothly - a few wrinkles and folds in it are fine. Brush a bit more oil over the second pastry sheet and this time lay it down in the tin the other way round, so it drapes over and lines the base and the other 2 sides. The tin should now be completely covered, with a pastry overhang all round. Repeat the criss-cross layering with 2 more oiled filo sheets.
• Stir the ricotta mixture into the spinach, then crumble in the feta. Lightly stir it in so you leave a few chunky pieces. Spoon this filling into the lined tin and level it. Bring the pastry sides up and over the filling, then brush a little oil over them. Brush the remainder of the oil over the last filo sheet on the board. Cut the sheet in half widthways and lay one half over at a time, in big folds, to cover the filling and give you a pastry topping.
• Place the tin on the heated baking sheet and bake for 25-30 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden. Leave to cool for 10-15 mins. Remove the tin and transfer to a serving plate. If your tin doesn't have a loose bottom, carefully upturn it onto a flat board, then flip it over onto the serving plate. Serve warm or cold with minted yogurt dip and a tomato, cucumber & pepper salad (see below), if you like.

SPANAKOPITA LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Saute onions in vegetable oil over medium heat until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix spinach, ricotta cheese, milk, feta, eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, and dill.
• When onions are ready, add them to this mixture.
• Spread a thin layer of spinach mixture in the baking dish, and then cover with three lasagna noodles.
• Spread another 1 1/2 cups over the noodles and then sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese.
• Top with three more noodles.
• Spread another 1 1/2 cups spinach mixture on top and the place the final three lasagna noodles.
• Top the last three noodles with the remaining spinach mixture, then place tomato slices on top and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.
• Let stand for ten minutes before cutting.