Tiropitakia & Spanakopitakia (cheese & spinach pies)
Delicious mini filo pastry triangles stuffed with a feta cheese mixture (tiropitakia) and added spinach (spanakopitakia). These popular Greek snacks have been enjoyed for centuries, with filo pastry dating back to ancient times.
They’re wonderfully flaky and the nemesis of whoever cleans up the party aftermath. All worth it for that creamy, salty, buttery bite though!
WE MADE THIS!
We love these smaller hand-held pies for our parties, but you could of course make the traditional larger pies to slice up (“Tiropita” & “Spanakopita” should get you those results on Google).
You can prepare these pies in advance and freeze before baking to get the best, freshest, hot pies for your party. Or you can bake and then freeze, with a 10-15 min oven reheat when you want them – they will be messier like this, but they taste just as good.
Our photos show less than half of the amount we made… they’re too hard to resist, apols.
www.mygreekdish.com
We used this website for both recipes as the method was the same, just different ingredients for the filling. We’ve tweaked this tiropitakia recipe in the past to adjust cheeses/amounts but returned to the OG for our final version.
www.mygreekdish.com
And it’s the same for the spanakopitakia – we’ve tested this several times for, uh, science, and it’s a solid recipe.
TIME: 50 mins / CAN PREPARE IN ADVANCE / BEST HOT
ingredients
TIROPITAKIA FILLING
- 170g feta cheese, crumbled
- 50g gouda cheese, grated
- 50g parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp full fat Greek yoghurt
- Splash of milk
- Fresh dill, chopped
- Black pepper
SPANAKOPITAKIA FILLING
- 500g spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 red onions, finely diced
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 200g feta cheese, crumbled
- Fresh dill, chopped
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Salt & pepper
TO ASSEMBLE (FOR EACH)
- 10 sheets filo pastry
- Melted butter
- Olive oil
METHOD
1.
If making spanakopitakia, you will need to sauté the onions in butter until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 2 mins, then add the spinach in batches until all is wilted. Take off the heat and cool for 5 minutes. Place mixture into a bowl, leaving as much excess liquid behind as possible.
2.
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Brush olive oil onto a large baking tray.
3.
Mix all ingredients for the fillings!
4.
Spread one sheet of filo on your counter. Drizzle with melted butter, then place another sheet on top and drizzle with more butter. (Keep the rest of your filo sheets under a damp cloth to prevent them drying out).
Use a sharp knife to cut the filo into 3 or 4 strips, depending on how big you want your pies.
At the end of each strip, add one tablespoon of the mixture. Fold one corner over to form a triangle, then continue folding the triangle up until the whole strip is used.
Repeat until all filling is used!
5.
Place the pies onto the baking tray and brush the tops with more melted butter. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!
MORE LINKS
www.lazycatkitchen.com
We love the look of these vegan spanakopita triangles! The spinach filling is boosted with a homemade vegan ricotta cheese made from cashews. Call us intrigued.