My cousin asked me to make a healthier version of one of her favorites – Spanakopita.

So unlike most things where I’m trying to lower the sugar, to make this dish healthier we had to lower the fat.

A Greek classic, this dish already has its healthy virtues, tons of spinach packed with iron. But this is where it ends. Traditional versions of this dish are high in fat, butter is brushed onto layers of phyllo dough and the spinach is mixed with feta cheese.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest around. One of its golden rules is healthy fats – Olive Oil. First thing to make our version of spanakopita, get rid of the butter and only use Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Secondly I decided to cut down on the feta and replace some with ricotta.

It took me a while to find phyllo dough. I found an organic version at Whole Foods.

I love Trader Joes Ricotta and while I was getting some I noticed they also carry Low Fat Feta Cheese!

It tastes great. What an added bonus.

Lots of Spanakopita recipes call for dill and as my dill was killed by aphids, I decided to use mint from our windowsill mint plant.

It’s an unexpected flavor with the spinach which helps to distract you from missing all the butter.

Enjoy!

Avec Amour, Victoria and Alexander

Healthier Spanakopita

Yield – 12 Sevings

1 Box Phyllo Dough, 13″ x 18″, store in freezer until needed

4 (10 oz) Boxes Spinach, frozen chopped

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Onion, medium diced

1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

2 Tablespoons Mint, finely chopped 

3 Eggs, large

1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese

4 oz Light Feta Cheese

1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1.  Defrost phyllo dough overnight in refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours before using.

2. Defrost spinach in a strainer for several hours,

squeeze as much extra liquid from spinach as possible, set aside.

3. Sauté onions until light golden brown in a sauce pan with 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil,

add spinach and sauté to remove any remaining liquid,

add nutmeg and mint, stir until combined and remove from heat to cool.

4. In a mixing bowl whisk together eggs,

stir in ricotta, crumble feta into tiny pieces and stir into egg mixture.

Stir in spinach a little at a time until completely added.

5. Remove phyllo dough from box and place on cutting board, fold phyllo in half lengthwise and slice up the fold cutting all the sheets at once into two, now 13″ x 9″.

Cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel, otherwise the phyllo dough will dry out and crumble as you are trying to assemble.

You need 20 sheets of phyllo for this recipe, roll up remaining phyllo sheets and return to freezer for future use.

6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Brush a 9″ x 12″ baking pan with olive oil,

brush one layer of phyllo dough with olive oil

and lay down in the pan,

add another layer of phyllo dough without olive oil and then one with oil alternating each layer until you have ten layers of phyllo, (this will help cut down on the fat as well) add filling,

cover with another 10 layers of phyllo alternating with olive oil .

7. Brush top layer with olive, score with a sharp knife the phyllo dough only on the top into servings,

this will make it easier to serve

after baking otherwise the phyllo will break, bake about 45 minutes until golden brown,

remove let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

This tastes great fresh out of the oven, but also the next day cold from refrigerator. The phyllo will be softer after being in the refrigerator. I reheated it once simply by putting it in a hot frying pan on both sides and it recrisped the phyllo.