Mini Spanakopita Pies

Recipe: Mini Spanakopita Pies

These Mini Spanakopita Pies are not only super delicious but also ideal for any time of the day. Enjoy them as a starter, as a snack or as a light meal along with some salad. Perfect for lunch boxes too and an easy yummy way to get kids to enjoy spinach. So you may ask why not the traditional triangles? Well, truthfully, I still need to master the art of folding them into neat triangles. I make the triangles when I am baking them for family. However, I don’t want to serve uneven triangles when I am entertaining. So I find the mini pies so much quicker to make using a muffin pan.

What Is Spanakopita?

Spanakopita is a popular Greek savoury pie which traditionally are made using phyllo pastry. The filling is spinach, fresh herbs and feta. The pieces are folded into a triangle shape. But these days you find all sorts of spanakopita. Some use flaky pastry, some shortcrust. Make them into mini ones or one large pie. Pretty versatile.

Sharing Mini Spanakopita Pies With Sunday Funday

We all are celebrating National Pie Day which is today, 1st Dec. A theme decided by Wendy, she suggested “Share a pie of any kind…sweet, savory, quiche, tarts, no bake…..the possibilities are endless”. The initial plan was to use flaky pastry with some samosa filling. However, a recent trip to Dubai got hubby hooked onto the spanakopita pie. So spanakopita it is for this theme.

 

Memories

Recently, hubby and I were at the Dubai airport waiting for our flight to Mumbai. We had skipped lunch and were hungry. Dubai airport has a delightful choice of cuisine one can enjoy. While walking around the food court, I stopped at the place serving Greek cuisine. The spanakopita pie was just too tempting. We ordered that and enjoyed it thoroughly. Hubby said”why don’t you make it at home?” So that is when I decided that for the pie theme it would be a spanakopita pie. We returned to Dubai and went for a meal to a Greek Restaurant, The Walk, Jumeriah. I almost went for the pie and then decided on a healthier meal Watermelon Halloumi Salad. Hubby ordered the pie. What a disappointment! The pie was raw and cannot imagine why they would have a layer of shortcrust pastry in the middle too. We sent it back. Luckily the rest of the food my daughter had ordered was enough for the three of us.

 

Check Out What Kind Of Pies Members Of Sunday Funday Have Made To Celebrate National Pie Day

• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Apple Cider Pie 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Impossible Lemon Pie 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Magic Crust Custard Pie
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Mini Berry Pies
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Mini Pumpkin Pies with Cinnamon Swirl Crust 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Mini Spanakopita Pies

 

 

Some Pie Recipes From My Blog

 

Ingredients Required For Mini Spanakopita Pies

Phyllo Pastry

We will be using 6 sheets. Make sure you thaw the pastry before using it. I bought it from the store and left it overnight in my fridge. Next day it was perfect to work with. One important thing about working with phyllo pastry is that you need to keep it covered under a slightly damp kitchen towel as it drys up too fast. Dry pastry sheets become difficult to fold. Make sure the kitchen towel is not wet. Just needs to be slightly damp. I kept the cut out squares too under the damp towel.

Spinach

The star ingredient. While most spanakopita recipes call for cooked spinach, this recipe is slightly different. No need to cook the filling. Therefore best to use fresh spinach. Can use normal spinach or baby spinach. I went for the baby spinach. I used about 180g of spinach. Chop it up finely. Make sure you dry the leaves on a kitchen towel after washing the leaves.

Herbs

Best to use fresh herbs. I have used dill and flat parsley. You may add mint too if you wish. Chop the herbs up finely. Don’t use the thick stems. However, you can add the tender stems. I used 20g of dill and 25g of parsley.

Spring Onion

I used about 3 spring onions which is approximately 65g.

Feta Cheese

I prefer to use the actual Greek style feta and not the goat milk one. You will need about 125g of crumbled feta. Use good quality feta for that delish flavour.

Eggs

Need the eggs to bind the mixture when it gets cooked. Also along with the cheese, makes the pies protein rich.

Breadcrumbs

Add a bit as it helps to soak up excess moisture and binds the filling.

Garlic

Add according to your taste. I used about 15g. Peel and slice the garlic cloves or chop it up finely.

Butter

We need melted butter to brush the muffin pan and to brush over the sheets. Don’t need too much. You can replace the butter with olive oil.

Salt

Be careful how much salt you add to the filling. Feta tends to be salty and also if you are using salted butter.

Pepper

Freshly cracked black pepper adds a whole load of flavour.

Dry Chilli Flakes

This is an optional ingredient.

 

 

 

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A Small Request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or comment on Pinterest @mayuri62