Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie.  In this version, the papery-thin layers of phyllo pastry hold a spinach filling with leeks, scallions, dill, feta, Parmesan, and ricotta.  Agapi Stassinopoulos said on The Martha Stewart Show that the inclusion of ricotta is untraditional but makes the pie sweeter.  She happens to be Arianna Huffington's sister, and this is their mother's recipe.

Joe and I liked this spanakopita, but we could have done without the ricotta and amped up the feta in this dish instead.  We really like feta, and I had followed the recipe and added only three-quarters of the 8-ounce block.  Our other criticism was we would have preferred a shallower pie with a lower ratio of spinach to pastry, because you get a big mouthful of spinach and little phyllo by comparison.  After all, there's three pounds of spinach in this dish!

Like all spanakopita dishes it takes some time to put together, and my least favorite part is squeezing the water out of fistfuls of spinach.  I used thawed frozen spinach, but if you go the fresh route you'll still have to steam or saute the spinach to release the water from the leaves to avoid a soggy pie.  Also, I used a decidedly non-Greek cooking vessel -- the wok.  There was so much filling it would have come up to the rim of my saute pan, making it difficult to stir.

But when it's all assembled and ready to go in the oven, the house has started to warm up and you can just sit back and wait.  And think back to last week when it was sunny and springlike, instead of cold and grey like today.  And then dig into some good spinach pie.

Greek Lamb & Tzatziki

I was telling my friend Aisha that I had seen a Barefoot Contessa episode on Greek food where she made lamb, and that I was going to make it this week. She asked if I would be blogging the dish, and I said, "Nah, I won't be doing anything different or putting a twist on it, and the recipe's on the Internet." But it was really good!

I won't bother going about the recipe, but you can find it here. I followed it most of the way, but I added smashed cloves of garlic to the marinade, and used 0% Greek yogurt where the "Contessa" called for full-fat. Partly because that's what the store had available, partly because the fat-free stuff is so rich anyway, and partly out of consideration for my arteries. I also added the last of my homegrown grape tomatoes to the skewers, made her recipe for Tzatziki, and broiled a side of eggplant slices brushed with olive oil. The grill wouldn't light up and I'm too afraid of the propane tank to replace it or otherwise fuss with it, but the broiler worked fine. The texture of the eggplant becomes almost creamy (I loathe spongy eggplant), and the lamb was delicious with flavors of rosemary, garlic, and lemon.

This tzatziki was a cinch to throw together, and I made it the night before while creating the marinade.

I also threw in some lemon thyme, since the recipes had lemon zest and juice.

I used a boneless, butterflied leg of lamb that weighed just over a pound and a half, but it made enough for 2 nights of dinner! That sure made Joe happy. Here, on the second night, I served it over roasted potatoes.

On a side note, I grew zucchini plants for the first time this year. Except there were never any zucchini! The leaves on trees have started to change color and fall, but last week I discovered there were zucchini a few inches long on the plants! I wonder if the delay was due to the wet (more like drenched) and cool summer we've had. Better late than never, huh?