Macedonian spinach pie
I first had these spinach pies (or pita, as it's called there) when hiking near Ljuboten a couple of years back. A very old lady invited us to her hut for a pita made with nettles and cheese. That was the best pie I've ever eaten. Since then, I've tried to replicate it at home with spinach (no success with Belgian nettles - tasted very grassy).
The pie uses a dough that is just a little thicker than phyllo.
Dough for one pie
250g of white flour mixed with water to about 50% hydration, with 2g of salt added. You need a dough that is rather dry - creases remain on the surface and the dough is not smooth at all. Rest the dough for at least 3 hours - I tend to rest it for at least 5. It is much easier to stretch if it has had more time to rest. By the end of the resting period, the dough is smooth and pliable.
Filling for one pie
220g spinach; 2 yellow onions, 110g feta
1. To make the filling: Saute onions until translucent, then add in spinach in three batches. Season with salt, oregano and pepper. Cook off as much water as you can - if there's too much you need to drain it. Towards the end, add a tablespoon of flour to make the mixture drier. Once the mixture is very dry, take it off the heat and let it cool on a plate. Let the mixture completely cool then add the crumbled feta before you make the pie.
2. To assemble the pie: Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Oil a big pie form (I prefer a cast iorn pan) with olive oil. Roll and stretch your dough until extremely thin. I start by using a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about 2mm thick. After that, I stretch it out with my hands, starting from the sides, then draping it over my arms to stretch the middle of the dough - let gravity do the work. Stretch till the windowpane stage then lay it out on the floured counter to continue assembling.
3. Put some spinach mixture in a long horizontal manner at one end of the dough like a sausage. Roll the dough over the sausage until covered. Brush pastry that is covering the top of the sausage with olive oil, and make another round of pastry over the sausage. This sausage is now done. Use a knife to cut off the sausage from the rest of the dough. Make sure the ends are pinched closed. Assemble it in the pie form starting from the middle, like a snail, then broadening out. Make sure that the crease of the sausage is always facing down on the pan. Continue in this manner until your filling is finished.
4. To bake the pie: Brush the top of the pie and the sides of the outermost layer with olive oil. Put pie into oven and bake until golden brown, about 30-40 mins. And then you eat it.
