Spanikopita Mmmm Mmmm!

It was a Tasty Tuesday indeed ;). And my loved one's wonder why I don't eat breakfast or dinner. I had these babies for lunch!! They look like turnovers, right? They are, but they are not filled with apple or any other sweet yumminess. ;)  This is Spanikopita. Its my understanding its spelled Spanakopita, but hey, this is the name the Chef wrote on the board and in this class, i am just a squirrel trying to get a nut. The nut being the education of course.  Although, I'm not quite sure I want to be compared to a squirrel. Next time I will rethink what I type. :)

Phyllo dough is used to create these beauties.  The Spanikopita consists of Feta cheese, spinach, garlic, onion and cut up herbs and salt. It was a party in my mouth. :) Can I say that on a blog? Hmm , well, if I cant, I am truly sorry. But i love spinach, and anything that has garlic. Automatic winner in my book.

Here is how you make it.  Take your Phyllo dough out of the box and unwrap. Place a damp towel over it so it does not dry out on you while you leave it out. You will start with your first sheet, butter it down, just like we did using the baklava. Put a second sheet on top and butter as well. You will do this for a total of 3 times. 

Then you want to cut your Phyllo into equal strips. Mine were 3" strips. Create a triangle by bending in one side and placing your filling on it.  

Now fold the triangle over and place butter on top.

You will continue to bend the triangle over and butter as you go down your strip, sealing in the filling so that it does not come out during the baking process.  The butter is what creates that crispy texture.  When you get near the end, you want to make sure you end it with the extra Phyllo on the bottom of your turn as seen below.

Cut the excess Phyllo off and you are done. You don't need to tuck this in anywhere, just top it off with butter and set it on your sheet until all your creations are done. :)

Mega easy :).  Bake these at 375-400 degrees F.  These make amazing appetizers.  I created a few with Guava paste in them as a dessert and took them home to my parents who truly enjoy these.  We were able to bring the rest of our dough home, so at some point this weekend I will make some surprises and see what I fill them with. Don't ruin it Cindy and Ginny, by letting them know CHOCOLATE is going to be one of the surprises... ha! surprise!?!

Have a great night. Off I go to burn off the "Spani". :) You know I wasn't going to continue to call it that extra long name....

Hasta Domani... our 2nd to last day in class!

XO