Spanikopita

Buttery crisp and oozing with feta and spinach, these delectable snacks are addictive. And with so much fresh spinach tucked inside, I choose to believe they're good for me. I can barely pronounce spanikopita, so I never attempted to cook them. Before today, that is. While it took me 45 minutes just to get them in the oven, I knew the effort was worthwhile after a single bite. It's not often I can say that.

I hope you don't want me to tell you how to make these. I can't. Too much typing and I feel like a slug from eating far, far too many. But the directions are ridiculous and all pretty much the same. Google it yourself or use these, or these. In an effort to be healthy and avoid the ridiculous 1/2 cups of olive oil everyone seems to advocate, I boiled the spinach for 30 seconds and then shocked it in ice water, squeezing it dry by the handful before chopping to add to the rest of the ingredients.

If you're curious, I filled the filo with:

1o-oz bag fresh spinach
4 oz feta
1 egg white
1/2 spring onion, minced
teaspoon lemon juice
tiny dusting of grated nutmeg
lots of cracked black pepper

5 T melted unsalted butter, for brushing the filo
1/2# filo dough

Made 12 large triangles, each with a heaping tablespoon of filling inside. If you're new to this, as I was, it's daunting to be trying to rush through in order to keep the filo from drying out. Halve the recipe. Don't be a hero. Yet. . .