From My Big Fat Greek Wedding · 2002 · Reconstructed
Spanakopita
Serve when
Pass it around the lawn party right after the bundt cake — 'Spanakopita! You hungry?' — while the ouzo is still going around.
In the movie
Theatrical
- 01:09:31 At the meet-the-parents lawn party, a tray comes around and someone calls out — 'Spanakopita! You hungry?' — as the Millers keep drinking ouzo and getting folded further into the family
The tray comes around at the lawn party right as the ouzo is doing its work on the bewildered Millers — "Spanakopita! You hungry?" — one more wave of food arriving before anyone can catch their breath. It's a small beat next to the whole roasted lamb and the bundt-cake reveal, but it's the film's most casual proof that this family never stops offering food, even between the bigger set pieces. This is a reconstruction of a standard spanakopita — the film names the dish on screen but gives no recipe.
Ingredients
Method
- Cook the onion and scallions in the olive oil until soft, then let cool slightly.
- Mix with the squeezed spinach, feta, eggs, dill, salt, and pepper.
- Lay out a sheet of phyllo, brush with melted butter, and top with a second sheet; repeat once more for a three-layer stack.
- Cut into long strips, place a spoonful of filling at one end, and fold flag-style into triangles.
- Brush the tops with butter and bake at 375°F for 25–30 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
- Pass them warm, straight off the tray.
Substitutions
- Phyllo dough: thaw it overnight in the fridge and keep the sheets covered while you work; if it tears, patch with another buttered sheet. Puff pastry can make a good spinach pie, but it turns this from crackly cocktail triangles into a richer, softer slab.
- Frozen spinach: totally fine here, as long as it is squeezed brutally dry. Fresh spinach, chard, or a spinach-leek mix works too; moisture is the enemy of crisp phyllo.
- Feta: use a feta-and-ricotta mix for a milder filling. All ricotta will be creamy but under-salted, so add extra salt, lemon zest, or a little grated hard cheese.
- Dill: mint, parsley, or oregano can cover for it, but dill is the flavor that makes the filling read Greek fastest.