Reviewed: Nov. 7, 2012

Excellent. I sauteed sliced shitake mushrooms with the onion/garlic/green onion mixture and added a tsp of lemon, salt and pepper.

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Reviewer:

christie

Reviewed: Oct. 30, 2012

This is really good. I've made it a few times. Sometimes I replace half the spinach with kale, or switch out the type of dough, it always turns out great!

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Reviewer:

sharamercado

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Sacramento, California, USA

Reviewed: Oct. 25, 2012

This is such a great recipe. I turned it into a main dish. I'm definitely not Greek so sorry if my changes weren't according to Greek custom. I browned a super lean pound of hamburger meat with one chopped yellow onion, about 1/2 tsp salt and two chopped cloves of garlic. As I did this, I steamed some white rice in my rice cooker. Once the meat and onion were browned, I added about 1.5 cups of the steamed rice to the meat and mixed them together. I then set this aside. I then went on to follow the recipe to a T until I got to the Phyllo part. I turned it into a 9 X 13 casserole so the sheets are the exact size and it can hold the extra meat/rice mixture. After layering four phyllo sheets on the bottom, I topped with meat/rice mixture and then spread the sheeese/spinach mixture evenly over the top of the meat/rice layer. I then topped with the four phyllo sheets as called for which were again the exact size and it turned out to be a perfect size family casserole. This might sound funny, but I purposely cut a few of my phyllo top sheets to get more crusty edges since they fit almost too perfectly. I like a flakey top. I baked the whole thing at 350 for 40 minutes and it was delicious. No sides required. I didn't even serve it with bread since it had rice in it and then the phyllow dough. I cut it like a lasagna and it was beautiful. I got 12 decent size pieced. This one is a keeper. Thanks for the post.

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Reviewer:

Pleasanton Mom

Reviewed: Sep. 17, 2012

Used a 16 oz bag of frozen spinach - thawed and well drained. Added salt to the final mix. Used olive oil spray instead of butter or olive oil on the layers. Added a few more layers to top and bottom and also added a middle layer. Cooked for 45 minutes - took about three minutes at the very end to darken the top layer. It turned out great!!!!!!

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Reviewer:

Loridavisrn

Reviewed: Sep. 16, 2012

This recipe will become one of my favorites of all time, after I add my tweaks. I followed the advice of StewartFip; I layered the bottom as well and skipped layering the middle. I drained any excess moisture (this is essential). I used 1 package of dry baby spinach (1 pound or maybe a little less is fine, 2 lbs is a lot) The end result could have been even better, so here's my 2 cents- I would have spent the time crisping up the bottom 8 layers in the oven prior to adding the filling. I would have used butter instead of olive oil to layer the phyllo (yes higher in fat but I don't like the taste of soggy olive oil soaked pastry.) This recipe was entirely lacking salt. Adding some parmesan cheese to the filling along with the feta would have been good, and added some salt. My local greek restaurant makes spanakopita casserole style too, I swear there is some kind of lemony element in it. Maybe next time I will add just the teeniest bit of lemon juice. You don't have to serve this right out of the oven, it was even better when we ate it the next morning as leftovers.

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Reviewer:

Jessica Cookie!!

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Living In: Santa Clara, Utah, USA

Reviewed: Sep. 15, 2012

Made it for the first time for dinner and it was wonderful! Thx SELEA for posting the tip regarding draining the spinach with two plates - worked perfectly.

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Reviewer:

viviparmar

Reviewed: Jul. 24, 2012

I love this recipe, but I would like to add a couple smart cooking suggestions..... don't forget salt and pepper!!!! salt the onions while you caramelize them. And I also use whole wheat fillo dough to give it a little healthier side. You can't taste the difference and it makes me feel better.

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Reviewer:

megrocks

Reviewed: Jul. 18, 2012

This was fantastic. I followed the recipe almost exact. The only thing I changed was I added salt and pepper, 1 extra clove of garlic and I used fresh spinach. I did not find it soggy at all. Terrific taste just the way the recipe is written.

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Reviewer:

Sandra

Reviewed: Jul. 15, 2012

This was good, but I made some adjustments. First, no one mentioned the need for salt, so I added 1/2 tsp. (and 1/2 tsp. pepper, as another reviewer mentioned adding pepper). I would use 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper next time - 2 lbs. is a lot of spinach, and you still have all those onions and 2 eggs! I used lowfat ricotta and feta, and they had no effect on the mixture (I think I would use 1/2 cup more feta next time). You have to give the spinach about 7-10 minutes to fully wilt, and spinning it in the salad spinner took away a lot of water, but it still wasn't enough. I think I'll use 3 boxes frozen, and thaw it and wring it out with my hands next time before adding. Believe it or not, the restaurants use the frozen spinach, and it still tastes great! I used 6 sheets phyllo dough on the bottom, and 6 sheets on the top - that was perfect, and it held together nicely. I think next time I will alternate how I lay the sheets in, so that you don't have one side of the pan have just a little overhang, while the other side has a lot of overhang. I did top the final sheet with some olive oil, and that made it pretty. Thanks for the recipe!

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Reviewer:

KRANEY

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Houston, Texas, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 4, 2012

Ok, since I am almost dead anyway, I am going to give you all my secret family trick to spanikopita, baklava, and anything with filo dough. Before putting in the oven Cut the top into squares Take 1/2 cup olive oil in a saucepan and heat until it is just starting to smoke white, before it burns black, pull off of fire. Pour it on top of the layers of filo dough, so it crisps. This will prevent any soggy filo dough. (which is the only major complaint I see, otherwise this is a perfect Greek recipe). Then cook in the oven for the 40 or so minutes.

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