Sunday, March 6, 2011

Hortapita alla deborah

Horta = greens    Pita = pie
You may have heard of Spanakopita.  That would be Spinach Pie.

Sure enough, spinach is a common green used in Greece.  
But around these parts, all sorts of greens can go into a pie.  
This is a recipe I concocted, based on available greens in my pantry one day.

I wasn't sure about the fennel bulb as well as the capers instead of olives and couldn't figure out what 5 TBSP of sweet "trahanas" were or even the parentheses meant (a Greek product similar to burghul) until...you guessed it - I Googled the word.
Go ahead and Google it yourself.  I found a package of them in the store and will bring the mystery Greek product home.

But in the end, what a wonderful flavor this 
Hortapita alla deborah turned out to be.  So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 package phyllo pastry
1 big mound of clean spinach
1 cup capers
1 fennel bulb sliced & diced
1 bunch of scallions diced
2-4 leeks sliced
1 bunch of fennel leaves chopped
1 cup of feta cheese crumbled
3/4 cup olives diced
5 TBSP trahanas (optional)
1 cup olive oil (IF using trahanas - or less without)
4 eggs lightly beaten
4 TBSP toasted sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute chopped spinach, fennel bulb, scallions and leeks in olive oil until soft.  Remove from heat and cool slightly and add rest of ingredients.  Mix and dump into a pastry lined pie pan.  Bring sides of pastry over top and swirl into shape, leaving a vent hole in the middle.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake in a medium temp oven (350 F or 175 C) for about an hour, until brown on top and bubbly inside.  Cool and slice and serve with a salad.  It gets better and better for leftovers and can be eaten even cold. 
Yamas!


3 comments:

  1. Looks like a great meal for a cold winter day! And it would be great to try in the Brewery. You will have to make one up when you return to MT and show me the goodness.

    xoxoxo,

    -Matt

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  2. Hi Sweetie! How nice of you to take the time to make an official comment.

    I will certainly fix the hortapita again. May have to use a lighter phyllo pastry since this kind isn't available in Montana.

    How's the brewing coming? X0X0 Mama

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  3. the finished product looks good enough to enter in the state fair!!! bet it would win a blue ribbon ;-) yummy post!

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