Recipe: Spinach Pie, Spinach and Cheese Pastries for Marlene

Spinach Pie
From sunspark's Mom's kitchen
Fills the bottom of a 14x9 inch pan. Two of these feeds 7 hungry adults with leftovers. We cut each one into about 10 pieces.

20 oz frozen chopped spinach, cooked and well drained (drain in strainer and press out extra water using paper towels)
1/2 pound feta cheese, chopped or grated (can substitute part of the feta with shredded mozzarella or cottage cheese)
2 eggs, beaten
6-12 green onions, chopped (can substitute yellow onion, chopped and cooked in oil)
1 tsp Italian seasonings or thyme or oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 pound frozen phyllo dough (about ten 14x18 inch sheets)
1/4 cup each oil mixed with melted butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the cooked spinach, cheese, eggs, oions, and seasonings.

Thaw the phyllo dough in the refridgerator overnight and then at room temperature. Open and place one or two sheets on waxed paper. Spread about 1T oil/butter over the top sheet. Repeat with additional sheets until all are used. Place 1/2 of the pile ina a pan about 14x9 inches. Spread the spinach micture over the dough and fold the other hald over the top, tucking in the ends. Cook 30-50 minutes, until golden brown, at 350 degrees.

Note: this recipe can be doubled. The ingredients can be varied.

Another note: we made one with just mozzarella and cottage cheese and it was good too.

Spinach & Cheese Pastries
Servings: 8 pastries, plus the leftover unused filling.

3 cloves garlic, crushed & chopped a bit
a couple dashes dried thyme
1 pt low fat ricotta
3/4 cup shredded parmesan
1 egg
1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets OR 2 pkgs Puff Pastry Shells

Saute garlic on medium until it smells good and is a bit cooked (3-5 minutes). Add thyme, let cook briefly in pan (toasting the spices). Add chunk of frozen spinach and a bit of liquid, cook until it's no longer a frozen block then cook another minute or so more.

OR if you're lazy, just cook frozen spinach according to package directions (boil 1/4 cup water, add spinach & garlic and thyme, boil another 4-6 minutes). However you decide to cook it, drain spinach well using a mesh strainer. Mix all ingredients.

Two methods, Sheets or Shells:

Fills about 1 package of Pepperidge Farm Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets, with about 1.5 cups left over filling. Filling method: cut each sheet into 4, plop some in the middle, fold the corners up and squeeze shut. Cut slashes in the top for ventilation, but actually, they always burst open anyhow so if you skip this step, no problem. Bake filled pastries until golden brown, about 25 minutes at 375.

If using shells, bake shells at 400 til puffed and lightly brown (15-20 minutes). Remove from oven, remove tops and soft innards, fill with spinach-cheese stuff. Reduce oven to 325, replace tops, bake 15 minutes more. Even with 12 shells, you'll probably still have a bunch of filling left.