Restaurant Hunter "Signature Dish" Recipe: Spanakopita at The Greek Place in Garden City South
(Makes 5-6 servings)
To make filling:
- Take a cup of feta cheese and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, place on a plate.
- Take a quarter cup of cream cheese and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, add to the same plate.
- Add 4 ounces of pecorino romano cheese to the plate, set aside.
- Finely mince 5-6 stalks of fresh dill and between a half and a whole red onion, combine the two and continue to mince, then season with a dash of white pepper and sea salt.
- Saute onions and dill on a skillet with about a teaspoon of oil on medium to medium-high heat for about five minutes, until onions are translucent, then cool onions and dill in the refrigerator for about a half an hour.
- Place 2 cups of fresh or frozen spinach and the 3 cheeses from earlier into a paddle mixer and mix on medium speed for about a minute.
- Add 1 extra large egg into the mix and increase the speed for 30 seconds.
- Add onions and dill from refrigerator into the mix on a low speed for 30-45 seconds.
Preparing the Phyllo dough:
- Melt 1/2 pound of whole butter.
- Take 1 #10 (aka "Country Style") Phyllo dough sheet and use a piece of wax paper or pastry brush to dab melted butter on the sheet.
- Fold dough in half from top to bottom and dab more butter on dough.
- Place 4 ounces of spinach filling on the end of each Phyllo dough, fold over from corner to corner three times to make a triangle. (Do not press on dough while folding.) Dab more butter on remaining dough to close.
- Place Spanakopita in preheated oven at 250 degrees and cook for 15-20 minutes until dough rises and becomes golden brown.
- To plate, use a serrated knife to cut Spanakopita in half and place Spanakopita on top of a bed of lettuce and garnish with a dash of parsley and a roasted red pepper.
As told to us by The Greek Place owner and chef Pete Kontoulakos. Watch new episodes of "Restaurant Hunter" Thursday nights at 8 PM on FiOS1!