It's Greek to Me....
this week we made spanikopitas and tzatziki sauce. It was adventurous and fun for the children were enthralled with the phyllo1 dough. As Delicate as it is, we still found it easy to work with and forgiving in our application.

Many of the kids had been in the previous class

session and were able to make the connection

between potstickers and spanikoptas. What was most enjoyable for me is dreaming up other options for fillings... everything from seafood to nutella... yum! I say go out of the box a little bit and give it a go. The most important thing to remember is to keep the phyllo under a damp cloth so it doesn't dry up.

tada!
Folding the
phyllo dough
with sweet little
fingers.

Spanikopitas

Ingredients:

1 lb spinach (washed and drained). You can use frozen too.

1/4 good olive oil (divided)

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

3 scallions, white and green parts, choppped small

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 eggs

4 ounces crumbled feta

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 pound phyllo pastry sheets

1. heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saute pan, add the spinach and cook & toss with tongs until it wilts. Set aside in a strainer over a plate and let cool. Add the additional 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and cook the onions and green onions until translucent and wilted... add parsley in a minute before you remove from the heat.

2. Gently squeeze out most of the water from the spinach and chop into small pieces. Place spinach, onion and parsley mixture into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg into the bowl. Add eggs to combine. fold in the feta until fully incorporated.

3. Melt the butter in a heat proof bowl.

4. Preheat oven to 350* and brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.

5. Unroll the phyllo dough on a flat surface and keep covered with waxed paper and a damp towel so it doesn't become brittle and dried out. Take one piece of phyllo dough and fold in thirds along the longer side (so essentially you have 3 layers). Brush the top of the phyllo dough with the melted butter. It is easiest to hold the bottom end and brush up.

6. Sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs. Place a small spoonful of the filling at the bottom of the phyllo dough (approx 1 " from the bottom) and fold the end over the filling to form a triangle. Continue to fold up the strip in triangles as if you were folding up a flag until all the dough is used. Place on a lightly buttered cookie sheet and brush the top of the dough with butter and gently sprinkle with flaked salt.

7. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and crisp. Serve hot.

We also had our Dr. Seuss ~ Zainy Food Fun Saturday Class today. We made Nupboard's Chicken Nuggets, Scholff's Knots (curly fries), Silly Sammy Slick's Soda (fruit Smoothie) and Who Chocolate Pudding.... Yes, we were busy, but it was all really whosical, dr. seussical, wonderfully good.