Spanikopita Arancini Recipes

SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Place spinach in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and press to remove all water. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until tender, but do not brown. Stir in cooked spinach and continue cooking until all moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• In a large bowl combine feta cheese, Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley and cinnamon. Stir in spinach and onion mixture.
• Brush the bottom of a 17x11 inch jelly roll pan with butter. Place 1 sheet of dough in the bottom of the pan; brush with butter. Continue to layer 13 more sheets of dough, brushing every other sheet with butter. Spread spinach and cheese mixture over dough. Continue layering with remaining dough, brushing every other sheet with butter. Tuck edges of dough under. Brush top sheet with butter and, using a sharp knife, score top layer into diamonds.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

ARANCINI

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring until onion is soft but not browned. Pour in the rice, and cook stirring for 2 minutes, then stir in the wine, and continue cooking and stirring until the liquid has evaporated. Add hot chicken stock to the rice 1/3 cup at a time, stirring and cooking until the liquid has evaporated before adding more.
• When the chicken stock has all been added, and the liquid has evaporated, stir in the peas and ham. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Transfer the risotto to a bowl, and allow to cool slightly.
• Stir the beaten egg into the risotto. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg and milk with a fork. For each ball, roll 2 tablespoons of the risotto into a ball. Press a piece of the mozzarella cheese into the center, and roll to enclose. Coat lightly with flour, dip into the milk mixture, then roll in bread crumbs to coat.
• Heat oil for frying in a deep-fryer or large deep saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fry the balls in small batches until evenly golden, turning as needed. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a low oven while the rest are frying.

SPANAKOPITA (GREEK SPINACH PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
• Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.

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.

SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Place oven rack in center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
• Preheat a small pan over medium to medium high heat. Add oil and onion and saute 5 minutes. Place onion in a bowl. Add chopped dry, defrosted spinach and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add feta to the bowl and combine it with spinach. Add beaten egg and sour cream to the bowl and combine with cheese, spinach and onion.
• On a large work surface, place 1 sheet of phyllo. Paint half of the sheet with a little melted butter, paying extra attention to your perimeter. Fold sheet in half. Pile 1/4 of your spinach mixture into a log shape working 2 inches from bottom and each side. Tuck bottom up and fold both sides in, then roll and wrap upwards until you reach the edge of the dough sheet. Each pastry will resemble an egg roll. Paint the seam and the ends of the roll with butter and set roll seam side down on a cookie sheet. Repeat and make 4 rolls. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly golden all over and serve.

SPANIKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add the spinach, scallions, parsley, and dill, and toss. Add the cheese and toss again. Add the eggs and then the cream of wheat. Work the eggs and cream of wheat into the mixture with your hands. After it is well incorporated, pour 1/2 cup olive oil over all and use a spoon to coat the mixture well. Season with salt and pepper.
• Brush a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with olive oil. Line the bottom of the pan with a leaf of phyllo. Brush with olive oil and repeat with another 4 leaves. Evenly spread the spinach mixture over the layered and oiled phyllo. Add 5 more leaves, brushing each with oil. With sharp knife, score top phyllo into serving size portions. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the phyllo is golden brown and the mixture inside is piping hot.

SPANIKOPITA ARANCINI

Steps:

• Bring stock, wine, lemon juice, salt and rice to a boil over med-high heat. Cook according to package directions, stirring frequently. For this recipe, you want the rice to be very tender, with no real "bite" to it, but not mushy either. To achieve this, you may need to add additional stock. When rice is tender, taste and add salt and pepper to taste--keep in mind you will add feta later which will add some saltiness. Remove from heat and stir in dill and zest.
• In a skillet over medium heat, saute sweet and green onions in oil until translucent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir into rice along with spinach and feta (add as much or as little as you like). Taste and adjust seasoning. You may want to add more lemon juice, dill or salt and pepper. Allow to cool to roughly room temperature Add 2 beaten eggs and heavy cream. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Roll rice mixture into 1 inch balls. Dredge in flour, then in eggwash made from 1 egg and 2 T milk, then in breadcrumbs.
• Deep fry in hot oil until golden. Drain on paper towels and enjoy! Really good with tzatziki sauce.

SPANAKOPITA (SPINACH TRIANGLES OR PIE)

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saute pan, add half of the spinach and saute until spinach wilts, tossing with tongs, about 2 minutes. Remove spinach and squeeze out excess liquid, then chop roughly. Repeat with remaining spinach, using 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Pour off any liquid from the pan, and add remaining olive oil. Add scallions and saute until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spinach to the scallions, along with the parsley, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. (This part can be done ahead and kept refrigerated).
• Stir the feta and as much beaten egg to moisten the cooled spinach mixture.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.
• Unroll the filo dough on a flat surface and keep it covered with waxed paper and a damp towel so it doesn't dry out and become brittle. Using a sharp knife, cut the filo into 3 by 11 inch strips, and recover with the towel. Use a pastry brush to brush a strip of filo with melted butter. Place a small spoonful of spinach filling 1 inch from the end of the pastry. Fold the end over the filling to form a triangle, then continue to fold up the strip in triangles, like folding up a flag. Continue with remaining strips of dough, placing filled triangles on the baking sheet and keeping them covered with a towel until all are ready to bake.
• Brush the triangles lightly with butter, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Serve hot. (These may be frozen before baking, layering waxed paper between layers of triangles to keep them from sticking. Bake frozen triangles an extra 10 minutes.)

GREEK SPANAKOPITA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt butter and oil together over low heat. Brush an 11-by-15-by-2-inch baking pan with butter-oil mixture. Layer 7 sheets of phyllo in pan, brushing each with butter mixture. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine remaining ingredients, except phyllo.
• Spread about 2 cups spinach filling over phyllo in pan. Cover with 2 sheets phyllo, brushing each with butter mixture. Repeat layering 2 cups filling and 2 sheets phyllo, brushing each with butter mixture, until all filling has been used, about 4 more layers.
• Top with 7 more sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter mixture. Press gently around the edges so layers adhere. Prick surface all over with a toothpick.
• Bake 15 minutes, reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking until pastry is golden, about 1 hour. Let stand 1 hour before serving.

SPANAKOPITA II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook and stir onions until softened. Mix in spinach, dill and flour. Cook approximately 10 minutes, or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in feta cheese, eggs, salt and pepper.
• Separate one sheet of phyllo from the stack and evenly brush with a light coating of butter. Place another sheet of phyllo over the butter and press the two sheets together. Cut the layered phyllo dough into long strips about 3 inches wide. Keep the remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
• Lay out one strip of phyllo at a time on your work surface with one of the narrow ends close to you. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling 1 inch from the end closest to you. Fold the bottom right corner over the filling to the left edge to form a triangle. Fold the triangle up, bringing the point at the bottom left up to rest along the left edge. Turn the lower left corner over to touch the right edge. Continue turning the triangle over in this manner until you reach the end of the phyllo.
• Repeat with the remaining filling and phyllo dough. Place filled phyllo dough triangles on a large baking sheet and brush with the remaining butter. (At this point, the pastries may be frozen. See Cook's Note.)
• Bake in the preheated oven until the phyllo is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

MACARONI & CHEESE ARANCINI

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to directions, drain. Add the heavy cream to the empty pot and simmer.
• Whisk in the cheeses and cook until thickened about 5 minutes.
• Add pasta, garlic, paprika and cayenne to the cheese mixture. Stir until well combined.
• Spread the mixture into a thin layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 3 hours or until thoroughly chilled.
• Scoop a generous tablesppon of the mixture into your hands and roll into a tight ball. Refrigerate when finished.
• Melt butter in a large pan and add the bread crumbs. Cook over medium heat until bread crumbs are golden brown. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Put flour into a second bowl and the eggs into a third, whisking them the water.
• Roll the macaroni & cheese ball in the flour and shake off excess. Next dip the ball into the eggs and then into the bread crumbs. Continue until all balls are done making sure they are well coated with the bread crumbs.
• Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet making sure they do not touch one another.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350. Rest for 3 minutes before servings.
• **Note prep time does not include 3 hours chilling time.

EASY SPANAKOPITA APPETIZERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, mix the first 9 ingredients. Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on a work surface; brush with butter. Layer with 2 additional phyllo sheets, brushing each layer. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.), Arrange 3/4 cup spinach mixture in a narrow row along the long end of phyllo to within 1 in. of edges. Fold bottom edge of phyllo over filling, then roll up. Brush end of phyllo dough with butter and press to seal. Repeat 4 times with phyllo sheets, butter and the spinach mixture. Place rolls on a parchment-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan, seam side down., Cut rolls diagonally into 2-in. pieces (do not separate). Brush tops with remaining butter. Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. If desired, serve with tzatziki sauce, lemon wedges and dill sprigs. , Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked rolls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until firm. Transfer to a freezer container; return to freezer. To use, bake rolls on a parchment-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan in a preheated 375° oven until heated through and golden brown, about 25 minutes.

SPANIKOPITA

Steps:

• Remove the green part of the green onions, and reserve.
• Using a good sized frying pan, in the olive oil, sweat (reminder not to use salt if later using myzithra cheese) the basil, oregano, garlic, and the chopped white part of the onions over medium low heat for a few minutes. If you are using dried parsley, add it to the sweat, otherwise do not add at this stage. (If you are substituting fresh herbs for dried, also do not add now.).
• When the onions are soft and starting to fall apart, add the spinach and any fresh herbs. Simmer for several minutes at the same heat. (The purpose of this is to add the flavor of the herbs and aromatics to the spinach.).
• Let that cool. This is very important. Commune with your family and/or friends, and forget about it for a while. Let the flavors meld, and accept that there's a reason for this. Preheating the oven to 375 depends on the oven, and how long the cooling process takes and how comfortable you are with your utility bills.
• Once the spinach mixture has reached at least a lukewarm temperature, in a mixing bowl, or if of limited means the same pan if it's large enough, add the feta, and get your hand(s) in there and start working the product. Depending on the liquid consistency, this is where this recipe becomes an art and a set of guidelines rather than a structured explanation. With your hand on the mixture, you're going to know whether it is feeling tacky or not. You want something like bread dough ready to bake, as far as tactile feel goes.
• You will need one egg for the inner part of the eventual product to "set" properly. Add that at this point in the process. That will give you a feel for how the rest of this will go. The reason you wanted it to cool was so that you could feel the temperature without burns, and to ensure that the egg did not cook in the spinach mixture.
• The strongly suggested myzithra should be added now. If that is not available, or outside of price range, then parmesan and romano should be added now. (It's a matter of preference, in the end, as the myzithra was the "WOW", but it's still an amazing dish without it.) What you want is at least a half cup combined. If the secondary cheeses (remember the feta was already added) do not drop the liquid consistency to "tacky", add more. If it is dry at this point, add another egg and add more cheese to get it to "tacky". What ingredients, dry or fresh, you used prior to this stage have an effect now.
• Once you reach that proper consistency, wash your hands, you don't need to touch it any more (potential cross contamination issues with the eggs), and oil a baking dish of similar proportions to the filo dough you purchased. I suggest butter, but do not use olive oil. Its smoking point is too low, and will often burn at 375°F.
• Lay out about half of the filo dough on the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Place the spinach mixture onto the lower layer of the filo dough. Make sure it reaches the edges. If there is some tearing, do not worry as long as the lower layers of the dough are still solid. This is normal, and will not comprise the final product. Lay the rest of the filo dough on top. Brush the top layer with the melted butter. This will assist in producing a crunchy top layer and help keep it from burning.
• Place in preheated 375F oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes, and check. Apply more butter if needed. Cook for a total of 20-25 minutes. You should be able to smell it and hear a solid almost frying sound when it is ready.

QUINOA ARANCINI

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix the quinoa with the spices, olive oil and Parmesan. With wet hands form a small ball, about 2 inches diameter and insert inside a small piece of mozarella. Cover up the whole to completely close the arancini. Coat it in the eggs then in the breadcrumbs.
• Heat up the oven to 400 and bake for 30-35. Serve hot.

SPANIKOPITA

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Mix the spinach, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and salt in a bowl.
• Arrange one sheet of phyllo dough on a clean work surface and brush with melted butter. Cover the remaining phyllo dough with a damp towel. Place a second sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter, then place a third sheet on top. Cut the buttered phyllo lengthwise into four strips.
• Place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture on the bottom of each strip. Take the bottom right corner and fold the dough over the filling to make a triangle. Fold the bottom left corner up to make another triangle. Continue folding until all the dough is folded. Arrange the stuffed triangles, seam-side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush the triangle with butter. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and spinach filling.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.