Upside Down Spanakopita

Aged 17, I went to Greece with my best friend, Andreas. We had to make a pit-stop and call in on Andreas’s grandparents in Athens. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it, but it turned out to be the best part of the trip. It opened my eyes to authentic Greek cuisine and especially the little crunchy spinach- and cheese-filled filo triangles, known as spanakopita, you could pick up from the street food vendors. This is my version. Please note, you will need a large baking tray, roughly 38 x 27cm (15 x 10.5in),lined with baking parchment. Recipe adapted from Upside Down Cooking by Dominic Franks, published by DK RED. Photography by © Ellis Parrinder. (If you prefer you can use shallot instead of onion).

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Ingredients

fresh dill 1 handful (chopped)
fresh mint 1 handful (chopped)
onion 1 (sliced)
egg 2 (beaten)
Parmesan 100 g (grated)
feta 300 g (crumbled)
spinach 300 g
butter 150 g
filo pastry 270 g

Method

Preheat the oven & prep the ingredients

Preheat the oven to 220°C /200°C fan.
Chop the dill and mint. Peel and thinly slice the onion. Beat the eggs. Grate the Parmesan.

Line the baking tray

Line the baking tray with some baking parchment, the size of the parchment paper needs to match the size of the filo sheets.
Drizzle with some oil then sprinkle with ⅓ of the dill and mint. Season with salt and pepper.

Assemble the spanakopita

Leaving a 1cm border, scatter over ⅓ of the crumbled feta and the onion.
Mix the Parmesan, remaining feta, dill and mint with the beaten eggs.
Lay ⅓ of the spinach on top of the onion, you will need a sturdy pile in the middle of the rectangle, leaving a 4cm border around the edges.
Spoon over ½ of the egg mixture, then lay another ⅓ of the spinach on top, then place the rest of the egg mix on top. Place the remaining spinach on top and press the whole lot down.

Finish the spanakopita

Melt the butter in a small pan over a medium heat, add a dash of oil.
Unroll the filo sheets, keeping them in a pile (you can cover them with a moist clean towel to prevent them from drying out).
Brush the top filo sheet with butter and lay it butter-side up over the spinach. Continue doing this until you’ve used all the filo sheets.
Scrunch the edges of the pie all the way around and brush the top with melted butter.

Bake the spanakopita

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes.
Lay a piece of baking parchment on top, followed by a chopping board and carefully flip it over. Peel off the backing paper and cut the pie into triangles. Plate up and enjoy!

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