SPANAKOTIROPITA (SPINACH AND CHEESE PIE)

Steps:

• Clean and rinse the spinach, drain well, squeezing it gently by hand.
• Sautee the onion in the olive oil.
• Shred the spinach roughly and add it to the onion.
• Stir over medium heat to get it all coated in the olive oil. Do not add any water. Cover and cook gently for 5-6 minutes.
• Add salt, pepper, parsley and fennel and keep aside to cool down a little.
• Crumble the feta cheese into the beaten eggs.
• If the spinach mixture when cooled has produced a lot of liquid, drain it.
• before adding to the cheese and egg mixture.Season and mix well.
• Do not add any more salt as feta is quite salty.
• Unfold the roll of pastry onto a flat surface, place the container (it should be a metal oven dish with approximate size 39x28x8 cm) you are going.
• to use on top of this and measure it roughly.
• Keep in mind that fyllo shrinks once cooked so be generous with cutting away with a knife the leftover strip, if there is one.
• Oil the base and the side of the container with melted butter.
• Coat the uppermost sheet of pastry and spread it carefully on the bottom of.
• the container trying to avoid creasing. Oil the next sheet of pastry and spread it on the top of the previous.
• Place in the same fashion 8 layers fyllo on the bottom of the container and spread on the filling. Cover the filling with 8 layers of oiled fyllo without pressing it down.
• Oil the top layer well and cut only the top layers into diamond or square.
• shapes with a small sharp knife.
• Be careful not to cut the bottom layers of pastry.
• Cook in a preheated oven at 190 grades C for 40 minutes until the pastry.
• puffs up and the top becomes golden and crisp.
• When cooked, let it stand for 10 minutes and then cut the pre-shaped pieces.
• all the way down to the bottom of the tin, take them out and place them on.
• a flat platter.