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			     SPANAKOTIROPITA
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                         (Spinach and Cheese Pie)


Ingredients 

1 kg. spinach
3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh fennel
1 large onion, finely sliced
300 gr. white feta cheese
3 eggs, slightly beaten
500 gr. fyllo pastry (The fyllo pastry is widely available ready-made
in Greece and elsewhere)
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
110 gr. melted butter
5 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 

Serves 10

o Clean and rinse the spinach, drain well, squeezing it gently by hand.
o Sautee the onion in the olive oil.
o Shred the spinach roughly and add it to the onion.
o Stir over medium heat to get it all coated in the olive oil. Do not add any
  water.
o Cover and cook gently for 5-6 minutes.
o Add salt, pepper, parsley and fennel and keep aside to cool down a little.
o Crumble the feta cheese into the beaten eggs.
o If the spinach mixture when cooled has produced a lot of liquid, drain it
  before adding to the cheese and egg mixture.
o Season and mix well.
o Do not add any more salt as feta is quite salty.
o Unfold the roll of pastry onto a flat surface, place the container (it
  should be a metal oven dish with approximate size 39x28x8 cm) you are going
  to use on top of this and measure it roughly.
o Keep in mind that fyllo shrinks once cooked so be generous with cutting
  away with a knife the leftover strip, if there is one.
o Oil the base and the side of the container with melted butter.
o Coat the uppermost sheet of pastry and spread it carefully on the bottom of
  the container trying to avoid creasing.
o Oil the next sheet of pastry and spread it on the top of the previous.
o Place in the same fashion 8 layers fyllo on the bottom of the container
  and spread on the filling.
o Cover the filling with 8 layers of oiled fyllo without pressing it down.
o Oil the top layer well and cut only the top layers into diamond or square
  shapes with a small sharp knife.
o Be careful not to cut the bottom layers of pastry.
o Cook in a preheated oven at 190 grades C for 40 minutes until the pastry
  puffs up and the top becomes golden and crisp.
o When cooked, let it stand for 10 minutes and then cut the pre-shaped pieces
  all the way down to the bottom of the tin, take them out and place them on
  a flat platter.