Spanakopita parcels
Makes: 12
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
Spanakopita parcels
A Greek classic, this recipe uses the Cypriot method of salting the spinach to wilt it instead of cooking, which helps avoid the risk of soggy pastry
Makes: 12
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
159Kcal
Fat
10gr
Saturates
3gr
Carbs
11gr
Sugars
1gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
7gr
Salt
0.8gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, in her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, in her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
Ingredients
- 2 x 260g bags young spinach
- 1 bunch spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 x 20g pack dill, finely chopped
- 1 x 30g pack flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- zest of ½ lemon
- 200g feta, crumbled - use vegetarian feta cheese, if required
- 6 large sheets of filo pastry, defrosted (we used Jus-Rol)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, to sprinkle
Step by step
Get ahead
Freeze the uncooked parcels. Bake for 30-35 minutes from frozen.
- Put the spinach and spring onions into a very large mixing bowl (or a big pan). Sprinkle with the salt then go in with your hands and start scrunching everything together well. Once it is well-mixed, leave it for 5 minutes, then scrunch again (it will have already wilted down quite a bit) and then put it in a colander and leave it to drain for at least 30 minutes.
- Combine the eggs, dill, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and feta in a bowl. Press the spinach down well again to extract any remaining liquid, then add to the feta mixture with some freshly ground black pepper (no salt though) and mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Unroll the filo, stack up the sheets and cut in half lengthways. Cover with a clean damp towel so that the pastry won’t dry out. Working with one strip of filo at a time, brush all over with olive oil then fold in half lengthways. Spoon roughly a twelfth of the filling on the corner nearest you at one end of the strip. Fold the corner over the mixture to make a triangle, then continue folding (like a flag). The filo should completely enclose the filling by the time that you reach the far end.
- Place on a greased baking tray then repeat until all the filo and filling are used up. Brush a little more oil over each parcel and scatter with the sesame seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and crisp. Cool slightly before serving.
