Spanakopita is among the best-known Greek dishes in the States, though the leaden, soggy versions you often encounter here are wildly different from the cheese and spinach pies served in Greece. The key to making a light spanakopita is to use a relatively small amount of strongly flavored fillings, butter every layer of phyllo—which helps the pastry stay flaky, light, and crisp—and start with good feta. As always, when working with phyllo dough (page 629), make sure you keep the pieces that you are not working with covered with a damp towel; see Baklava (page 628) for more details.

　　

Ingredients

makes 6 or more servings

　　2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

　　1 bunch of scallions or spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped

　　Two 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, or 1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach, large stems removed

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　3 tablespoons pine nuts

　　2 tablespoons sultanas (golden raisins) or raisins, optional

　　2 cups feta cheese

　　2 eggs

　　1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or a bit more to taste

　　4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

　　10 to 12 phyllo sheets

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add the scallions a minute later. Cook until they begin to soften, 3 to 5 minutes, then add the spinach. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is completely wilted, less than 5 minutes. Turn the mixture out into a bowl and let it cool, then stir in the pine nuts and sultanas if you’re using them.

　　

Step 2

Beat together the feta and eggs in a separate bowl. Season the mixture with the nutmeg and some black pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

　　

Step 3

Brush the bottom of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish with butter. Lay 6 or 7 phyllo sheets in the pan, brushing each sheet with melted butter; the edges of the sheets should hang over the rim of the pan.

　　

Step 4

Spread half of the cheese mixture over the phyllo and top it with half of the sautéed spinach and scallions. Lay another 4 sheets of phyllo on top of the spinach, buttering each sheet, then top the phyllo with the remaining cheese and spinach. Fold in the edges to enclose the pie, sealing with melted butter and additional buttered phyllo if necessary.

　　

Step 5

Score the top of the pie into squares or triangles and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.