Chicken Spinach & Feta Pie

Greek inspired Chicken Spinach & Feta Pie is a twist on  an old Greek recipe “Spanakopita”  combining Chicken, organic Spinach, onion, fresh garlic, lemon, feta cheese,  fresh herbs, and spices all contained in a rich buttery flaky Phyllo (Filo) dough.

Spanakopita or spinach pie is a Greek savory pastry pastries with a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions or scallions, egg, and seasoning.The filling is wrapped or layered in filo pastry with butter or olive oil, either in a large pan from which individual servings are cut or rolled into individual triangular servings.

While the filo dough recipe is most common, many recipes from the Greek islands call for a crust made of flour and water to form a crunchier, calzone – like exterior in place of the flaky filo dough. The pastry is golden in color when baked, the color often enhanced by butter and egg yolk. Other white, fresh, preferably salted cheeses may also be mixed with, or substituted for, the feta cheese.- Source Wikipedia 

I adore most Greek foods such as Spanakopita so I decided to add a tweak to the recipe to make a casserole serve for dinner without all the fuss and muss over cooking and cleaning– turns out this has been one of my better lazy concoctions that I’ve been making the last 4 years. I thought I would share it with you all enjoy at dinner and to be the judge of it yourselves.

Below you will find my delicious Greek-inspired recipe for Chicken Spinach & Feta Pie with easy to find ingredients and simple to follow instructions…

 Chicken Spinach & Feta Pie

• 14 sheets filo dough
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 – (6 ounce) grilled chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
• 1 large package or 24 ounces Organic Spinach chopped
• 1/4 of a cup of heavy cream
• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• 1 teaspoon of chopped dill weed
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Prep work and directions
Beforehand: Remove the filo dough from the freezer; thaw dough for about 1 hour – or thaw overnight in a refrigerator.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Zest 1 fresh lemon using a micro plane, be sure not to go into the white part- then squeeze the lemon you have just zested for juice. Chop 1 medium sweet onion and then mince 2 cloves of garlic. Dice the 3 grilled chicken breasts.
3. Thaw the spinach Microwave on defrost setting. Once done place spinach in a clean and dry towel to removes excess moister by gently but firmly squeezing spinach in towel to remove all water
4. Melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter on HIGH for 20-30 seconds or until melted.
5. Coat a large rectangular baking dish lightly with melted butter. Place one phyllo sheet in dish; brush lightly with butter;  then repeat with a total of 7 bottom layers.
6. Combine zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1 lemon, 1 medium chopped sweet onion, 2 cloves of garlic that have been minced, chopped chicken breasts, 24 ounces of chopped organic spinach, 1/4 of a cup of heavy cream,4 ounces of feta cheese, dill weed, season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, spread mixture evenly over filo dough.
7. Place one filo sheet in a dish  on top of spinach and chicken mixture; brush lightly with butter;  then repeat with a total of 7 top layers.
8. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let stand 8 minutes before serving.

This recipe is a © of Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch, 2013-2014-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material or photos without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner are strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. You may not copy and paste recipes to share on Social Platforms.