History
Philip whose name is Greek and who also likely knew the Greek language was called to a life of mission work in the ancient Greek, Scythian, Phrygian regions. The Gospel tells of Philip’s relationship with these Greeks who wished to see Jesus. Philip approaches Andrew, and together they go the the Lord on these Greeks’ behalf.
With this background in mind, a Greek-inspired food might be just the thing to serve alongside family devotions or to have after attending a service on St. Philip’s Day on May 1st.
Spanakopita
Spanakopita can come in various shapes and sizes. A modern take on this historic dish is the lasagna-style spanakopita where the ingredients are layered (dough-spinach-dough) in a casserole dish, resembling the characteristics of baklava. Another version is a stand-alone wheel of spinach and feta-wrapped dough that is wound into one little pie. Yet for our take on spanakopita, we wanted to offer a personal-sized option that provides a nice ratio of dough to filling and could end up being the perfect snack or appetizer that you serve alongside dinner.
Since St. Philip isn’t the first Greek saint we’ve featured, you might consider serving these bites alongside one of our other recipes and/or substituting those options for his May 1st observance. You could even enjoy all of these dishes in a full-on Greek-themed dinner:
Main dish: Pastitsio
Appetizer: Spanakopita
Salad: Greek Salad
Dessert: Baklava
Ingredients
1 package phyllo dough (or if homemade, we followed this recipe)
10 oz frozen spinach thawed and drained
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 eggs
6 oz crumbled feta cheese
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp dill
¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Thaw the phyllo dough according to package instructions and thaw and drain the spinach.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and begin heating the spinach and onion in a pan over medium heat in a tablespoon of oil. Cook until the onion is translucent, then add the garlic and cook a minute longer. Remove the spinach mixture from the heat and let cool while you prepare the dough cups.
- Grease and line 10 places in a muffin tin. Then, using a biscuit cutter or mason jar ring, cut out 10 circles from the dough. Roll them out to size so that when placed in the muffin tin, the edges cover the side of the mold. Place each dough in the prepped muffin tin.
- Once the spinach has cooled to the touch, add in the rest of the ingredients, stir until combined, and fill the dough cups.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough has browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes and enjoy!
St. Philip Spanakopita
Ingredients
- 1 package phyllo dough (or if homemade, we followed this recipe)
- 10 oz frozen spinach thawed and drained
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 eggs
- 6 oz crumbled feta cheese
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp dill
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Thaw the phyllo dough according to package instructions and thaw and drain the spinach.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and begin heating the spinach and onion in a pan over medium heat in a tablespoon of oil. Cook until the onion is translucent, then add the garlic and cook a minute longer. Remove the spinach mixture from the heat and let cool while you prepare the dough cups.
- Grease and line 10 places in a muffin tin. Then, using a biscuit cutter or mason jar ring, cut out 10 circles from the dough. Roll them out to size so that when placed in the muffin tin, the edges cover the side of the mold. Place each dough in the prepped muffin tin.
- Once the spinach has cooled to the touch, add in the rest of the ingredients, stir until combined, and fill the dough cups.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough has browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes and enjoy!
