Spinach Triangles

Greece would have to be one of my favourite countries. I have wonderful memories of the Greek Islands and the food. Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast, dolmades and stuffed peppers for lunch and spanakopita (spinach pie) for dinner. I remember it all, and it was wonderful, but apart from stuffed peppers I’ve never made Greek food.

So, fast forward to last weekend. I was expecting guests and had a hankering for spanakopita. So as you do, I visited YouTube for the visual delight of seeing it made. I was impressed. I quickly scribbled out the recipe and went shopping. I was so impressed in fact, that I decided to make two – one for my guests and one for the freezer.

I spent half a day chopping and crumbling – there was a mountain of baby spinach to destalk and chop, and another mountain of feta to crumble. I followed the recipe to the letter, and when it came out of the oven, it looked fabulous! It even looked fabulous on the plate… that was until we tasted it. My guests were very polite and ate it, but for me, it was so overpoweringly salty, I couldn’t stomach it. So sadly, what was left went in the bin as did the spanakopita that was in the freezer.

Not to be beaten though, I decided to make spinach triangles with the remaining ingredients. I did a little research and came up with my own low-salt recipe, and the result was perfect. Exactly as I imaged the spinach pie should taste. So here’s my recipe…

Spinach Triangles

Ingredients: Makes 27 triangles

1 packet of filo pastry
250 g baby spinach
10-12 baby spring onions
250 g soft creamy ricotta
50-75 g of full fat feta
Milk to soak the feta
½ cup grated cheddar or tasty cheese
2 eggs lightly beaten
Melted butter or olive oil to brush filo
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius
Place the feta in a bowl of milk and allow to soak for half to one hour. This is to reduce the salt. If you like it salty, then miss this step
Finely slice the baby spring onions
Destalk the baby spinach and finely chop
Add the spinach, spring onions, ricotta and grated cheese to a large bowl and crumble in the feta, then mix well with your hands
Taste and season for salt and pepper, then mix through the lightly beaten eggs
Place two sheets of filo onto the bench, brush lightly with olive oil or melted butter and cut into three lengthwise strips
Place a spoonful of the mixture onto a corner of the filo strip making a triangle and keep folding over to the end of the strip. Repeat until all the filo used.
Brush the triangles with olive oil or melted butter and place on a tray covered with sprayed baking paper
Bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius