A Gift From The Greeks

I know that Virgil the poet warned about Greek Gifts but that was all about Trojans hauling the wooden horse into their city and being defeated. There are many wonderful things which have come to us from the Hellenic Culture. I have been saddened to see the destruction caused by wildfires in the past fortnight on the Greek Islands. I decided to try a Greek recipe over the weekend.

σπανακόπιτα or spanakopita - simply means spinach pie 

According to the various recipes I found online, the outside is phyllo [or sometimes puff] pastry

The filling is spinach plus cheese [feta, ricotta, or similar] bound together with egg - and sometimes herbs, and other veg added.

This BBC version had only five ingredients - pastry, spinach, cheese, eggs, and a jar of sundried tomatoes. I decided to make my own version with minimum outlay. I bought a pack of phyllo pastry [that's the greek word for leaf] and used half the sheets for my pie. I had a jar of sundried tomatoes in the fridge, and I liked the fact that the recipe used the oil from the jar, rather than butter, for brushing the pastry.

I had plenty of my own spinach in the garden.

I had eggs in the egg rack

And I made a 'soft cheese' by draining some of my yogurt through a paper-lined sieve, and adding a little salt.

I sprinkled in some oregano too. Oregano is a Greek word too, it means 'the joy of the mountain'

My pie looked golden and delicious as it came out of the oven! I love the crispy crack of the pastry as it is sliced. Delicious served hot, warm or cold.

The heat has definitely addled my brain - thinking of the joy of the mountain brought to mind that lovely Greek singer, Nana Mouskouri singing the old Scottish song Wild Mountain Thyme which she recorded in the early 1970s!