Spanokopita!

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,685
41,485
Iowa
I decided to include some spanokopita as an appetizer with one of our holiday meals. Found what turned out to be a good recipe. Just finished off the last two of the dozen I made earlier this week at lunchtime a couple of hours ago. Working with the phyllo was interesting for the first time, lol, but came off pretty well. Here they are freshly plated from Christmas. Wife and daughters loved them!328ECDDC-3107-4531-84B5-7BC2D2A6B118.jpeg
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
5,498
28,122
Florida - Space Coast
That looks good, however I have spanakopita issues. I have a mother who has to mention on about every phone call how she’s really been enjoying the spanakopitas she gets from Costco. I’m telling you it’s darn near every time.
Surprisingly enough while I've never had them Costco, i used to get them (triangular versions) from a local Greek place when i lived in S.D., but Costco does have some damn tasty quality foods.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HawkeyeLinus

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,685
41,485
Iowa
That looks good, however I have spanakopita issues. I have a mother who has to mention on about every phone call how she’s really been enjoying the spanakopitas she gets from Costco. I’m telling you it’s darn near every time.
Haha, does she have to buy 12 dozen at a time?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: AJL67

Egg Shen

Lifer
Nov 26, 2021
1,113
3,743
Pennsylvania
Haha, does she have to buy 12 dozen at a time?
Probably. So i probably have been hearing about the same box of food for the past 2 or 3 years.
Surprisingly enough while I've never had them Costco, i used to get them (triangular versions) from a local Greek place when i lived in S.D., but Costco does have some damn tasty quality foods.
yeah I wasn’t knocking Costco food or that they are pre made. I’m sure they are tasty. Very, very sure. 😑
 
  • Like
Reactions: HawkeyeLinus

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,685
41,485
Iowa
Marvelous!! Well done my friend.. and what wine did you serve??
One of my daughters is the wine lover, not sure what she had, but it was pale in color! The rest of us had cranberry juice and sparkling wine "cocktails".

I think the cranberry juice cost more than the bottle of sparkling wine, lol.
 
  • Love
Reactions: monty55

jttnk

Lifer
Dec 22, 2017
1,666
10,372
Phoenix, AZ
Love it! Philo is hard to work with, so I’ve heard. Sephardic Jews (Mediterranean, Spain and the Balkan countries) call it Burekas.. my mother in law makes it with Matzah during Passover, it makes the holiday palatable! Sephardic Soul food I call it.

She used to make an amazing dish called Ishahda (sp?). It’s crushed bread crumbs and roasted garlic done with mortar and pestle, then stirred in a big wooden bowl. Eaten with grilled meat it’s amazing.
 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
9,550
39,674
RTP, NC. USA
Woo.. Open face Spanakopita. Love those things. Used to have awesome Greek buffet here. Then they changed their dishes and raised price. Went out of business soon after. Thank God they were not the old fella who used to hang out. New folks seemed like well to do young folks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HawkeyeLinus

dino

Lifer
Jul 9, 2011
2,029
14,615
Chicago
Bravo Hawkeye!
My wife rarely makes them because the phyllo is a bitch to work. Costco's spanakopita is pretty good, though the last box we got was less so. The "church ladies" at our parish make them and tiropites (cheese-phyllo puffs) often and we stock up.
A terrific white wine for Greek food is Boutari Moschofilero.
 

karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,483
9,365
Basel, Switzerland
My grandma used to make the most amazing pie ever. Called it weed pie. She used to get wild weeds from several old ladies in her village market, picked from various fields. She put about 10 different wild weeds in it on top of spinach, and feta cheese. No egg. Also made her own phyllo (as all grandmas did) - what would now be called “rustic” in the supermarket. Basically flour, a drop of water and tons and tons of olive oil.
In Greece we say grandmas measure olive oil by time, as in “how long do I keep the olive oil can tipped over the food”.

Turks make a surprisingly delicious parsley pie too, learnt it but haven’t made for years. Essentially a ton of finely chopped parsley and spring onion, moistened with a mixture of egg, olive oil, yoghurt and pepper, in phyllo layers. With added olive oil for crispness and anise seeds on top for extra spice.
 

paulfg

Lifer
Feb 21, 2016
1,605
3,031
Corfu Greece
My grandma used to make the most amazing pie ever. Called it weed pie. She used to get wild weeds from several old ladies in her village market, picked from various fields. She put about 10 different wild weeds in it on top of spinach, and feta cheese. No egg. Also made her own phyllo (as all grandmas did) - what would now be called “rustic” in the supermarket. Basically flour, a drop of water and tons and tons of olive oil.
In Greece we say grandmas measure olive oil by time, as in “how long do I keep the olive oil can tipped over the food”.

Turks make a surprisingly delicious parsley pie too, learnt it but haven’t made for years. Essentially a ton of finely chopped parsley and spring onion, moistened with a mixture of egg, olive oil, yoghurt and pepper, in phyllo layers. With added olive oil for crispness and anise seeds on top for extra spice.
my village kafenion has home made pies kotopita (chicken),tyropita (cheese) spanakopita and hortopita (wild greens ) as mentioned by karam.The owner regularly picks wild produce from the mountains when in season including the wild greens,mushrooms,asparagus.

This is something largely lost to my native UK upbringing,I dont pick mushrooms as I wouldnt have a clue which were good/bad