By Martha Smith
I wanted to make a spanikopita but did not have any phyllo pastry. I had the ingredients to make a pizza crust and decided to make a spinach pie — part Italian part Greek. Serve as a light main course for dinner or as a party dish cut into slices.
Spinach Calzone
Dough:
- 2 tsp. dry yeast
- 1 c. warm water
- 2 T. sugar
- 3.5 C flour
- 1 T salt
- ¼ C extra-virgin olive oil
Filling:
- Fresh spinach about 1 lb
- 2 heads of roasted garlic
- cottage cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch nutmeg, to taste
- salt and pepper
Make the dough: dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar.
Using a food processor, add the flour, salt and water and extra virgin olive oil. Mix it up and knead to the desired consistency by hand. Put the dough in a plastic bag and let it rise in the fridge. Let the dough come to room temp before trying to knead.
Make the filling: put the clean spinach in a sauce pan with a cover and cook on low heat until wilted. Pinch into a colander and let it sit and drain.
After garlic has roasted for about 40 minutes in foil and cooled, squeeze roasted garlic cloves from their skin into a mixing bowl. Chop cooked spinach and add to roasted garlic. Stir in cottage cheese and Parmesan, stir in raw beaten egg. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Take dough out of fridge and let come to room temp. Preheat oven to 375 f. Divide dough in half and roll out each half to about ½ inch thick.
Put one half of dough on a cooking sheet. Put filling onto dough and smooth out to about 1 inch in depth. Place second half of dough on top of spinach mixture. Roll the bottom selvage up around the top and crimp to seal edges. Brush with egg wash, salt and pepper.
Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, rotating for even baking. Let it rest before cutting.
Serve with a tomato salad.