The first time I made this recipe, I vowed NEVER to make it again.

That was when I had my "first place" and was starting to cook for myself without the help and guidance of my grandmother (the second best cook in the universe!).  She never made Greek food, so I never learned from her how to work filo dough.  (We're German on one side and English on the other, and what do they know about filo, right?)

This recipe for Spanikopita came from a cookbook compiled by the good ladies at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral  in Richmond, Virginia. My sister and I went to the Greek Festival there many years ago and I scraped up $10 to buy one of their cookbooks.  That has to be without a doubt the best $10 I've ever spent.

If you've never worked with filo, you're in for a treat.  It's tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, all the work is so worth it when you try the finished product.  By the time this had finished baking, I was ready to cry.  My kitchen had melted butter covering practically every hard surface; I had sheets and sheets of torn and dried filo (remember to keep it covered with a dish towel while you're not using it) littering the counter top; I had dirty dishes galore piled in the sink that I knew were going to take me two hours to wash (They were from the night before, but it still LOOKED bad and didn't make me feel any better.); and my entire apartment reeked of burned spinach (I had to cook it and wring the water out.  I forgot it was cooking and went to chat with my next door neighbor for a little while.  Oops.)  I had to start that part over, and I can tell you that wringing water out of spinach is a complete pain.  If you have any flour sack dish towels, they make great spinach-wringers, but they do a horrible job drying dishes.  Anyway, when I finally pulled it out of the oven I took one bite, moaned with pleasure, and thought "Damn this is good.  Too bad I'm never freaking making it again."  That was in 1998 when I was young, single, and had all the time in the world to cook.  Since then, I've gotten married, had three children, and have lost count how many times I've made this recipe.  I can whip one up in about 30 minutes.  I'm so glad I gave this delicious spinachy-cheesy goodness another chance.

Kali Orexi!

Spinach Pie - Spanikopita

1 pound filo dough (You'll use less than half of one roll of the double roll box)

2 (10 ounce) boxes frozen, chopped spinach OR 1 pound fresh spinach, cooked and wrung dry

1 pound feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 beaten eggs

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 bunch fresh dill OR 3/4 teaspoon dried dill

1 cup clarified butter (if you attempt to make this with margarine, you deserve a good smack upside your head)

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (Do not omit this.  It's far more than a garnish in this particular recipe.)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

To a large bowl, add the cooked spinach, feta cheese, eggs, salt and pepper, parsley, green onions and dill.  Mix well.

Butter a 13x9 baking dish and lay nine sheets of filo, buttering between each layer with melted butter.  Add filling and spread evenly.  Lay nine more layers of filo on the top, again buttering between each layer.  Butter the top and edges well.  Cut through the top layer only into desired portion sizes; bake in a preheated 350 oven for one hour or until golden and well risen.