pat's Recipe

Spanakopita (spinach & feta phyllo triangles)

Category: Appetizers served hot/warm

1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb baby spinach
1/2 lb feta, crumbled (scant 2 cups)
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
10 (17x12-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then cook spinach, stirring until wilted and tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool, about 10 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of spinach to remove as much liquid as possible, then coarsely chop. Transfer to a bowl and stir in feta, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper.
Preheat oven to 375.
Melt remaining butter in a small saucepan, then cool.
Cover phyllo stack with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap and then a dampened kitchen towel.
Take 1 phyllo sheet from stack and arrange on a work surface with a long side nearest you (keeping remaining sheets covered) and brush with some butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and brush with more butter. Cut buttered phyllo stack crosswise into 6 (roughly 12x2 3/4-inch) strips.
Put a heaping tsp of filling near 1 corner of a strip on end nearest you, then fold corner of phyllo over to enclose filling and form a triangle. Continue folding strip, (like a flag)maintaining triangle shape. Put triangle, seam side down, on a large baking sheet and brush with butter. Make more triangles in same manner, using all of phyllo.

Bake triangles in middle of oven until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool slightly.