Creamy Fillo Spinach Pie
- 1 pound young spinach leaves
- 7 ounces feta cheese, mashed with a fork
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 stick (or 5 1/2 tablespoons) butter
- 2 1/4 cups milk
- 12 ounces large fillo sheets
- 7 ounces Turkish kasar cheese or mature Cheddar, grated
- To make the filling, wash the spinach, removing stems only if they are thick and tough.
- Put them to steam in a large pan with 4 to 5 tablespoons water over medium heat, with the lid on.
- Within very few minutes they will have crumpled into a soft mass, so keep your eye on them.
- Strain well, then, when cool enough to handle, squeeze them dry, pressing all the water out with your hands.
- Still using your hands, mix the spinach into the mashed feta.
- Beat the eggs with a fork in a large bowl.
- Heat the butter in a pan.
- When it has melted, pour in the milk and heat until it is warm, then gradually beat this into the eggs.
- Grease a rectangular or square baking dish a little smaller than the sheets of fillo.
- Open the sheets only when you are ready to use them and keep them in a pile so that they do not dry out.
- Lay a sheet in the greased baking dish, pressing it into the corners with a pastry brush and letting the edges come up the sides of the dish.
- Pour a little of the milk-butter-egg mixtureabout 4 to 5 tablespoons or a little less than a standard ladlefulall over the sheet.
- (You will need a similar amount to pour between each sheet and a larger amount for the last one on top.)
- Sprinkle on a little of the grated kasar or Cheddar.
- Lay a second sheet on top and repeat with the milk-butter-egg mixture and then the grated cheese.
- Continue until you have used about half the sheets, then spread the spinach filling evenly on top.
- To do this, press lumps of the spinach and feta mixture between the palms of your hands to flatten them and lay them side by side.
- Continue laying sheets of fillo, pouring over each the milk mixture and sprinkling with cheese until you are left with 2 last sheets.
- With a sharp or fine, serrated knife, trim the edges of pastry around the sides of the dish.
- Lay the remaining 2 sheets on top of the pie, sprinkling the milk mixture and cheese between them and tucking them down the sides of the dish.
- If there is too much to tuck in, trim with scissors.
- Pour any remaining milk mixture over the top.
- Bake the pie in the oven preheated to 350F for 30 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brownit puffs up and falls again.
- Serve hot, cut into pieces.
- For an all-cheese filling instead of the spinach, blend 7 ounces feta cheese with 7 ounces cottage cheese and mix in about 4 tablespoons chopped parsley or dill.
feta cheese, eggs, butter, milk, fillo sheets, turkish kasar cheese
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/creamy-fillo-spinach-pie-373084 (may not work)