Spanikopizza!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 1:01AM | Seeley deBorn 
Okay so this is the first official post. There's one before this but it's the contest and I'm sure you're not interested in the free stuff. ;)
First post is a little nervewracking. I had a few recipes I could have put up here, but I figured I shouldn't start with a complaint about my mom's crappy cooking or an epic failure.
I decided to go with a craving. Because I'm fickle and I'm a slave to my own whims.
So, I was totally craving spanikopita. You know, the Greek things with spinach and feta in them, usually little phylo pastry triangles served with tzaziki to dip? Fabulous appys in a Greek restaurant and really not tough to make. If you have phylo pastry. And a few hours to fold them into triangles.
Which I didn’t.
But I did have spinach.
And a few other things.
Notably, bacon.
Spinach and bacon. Works for me.
University students living off of pizza is one of those stereotypes that are based on fact. I eat pizza on a regular basis. But not the greasy thick crust 5 dollars a pie delivery kind. (Even if I wanted to, the buzzer to my apartment is broken and I’d have to do pick up, and if I’m ordering out, I’m not getting off my lazy ass to go get it).
I make my own.
Sometimes I do it from scratch and make my own dough by proofing yeast and letting the dough rise and all that, but I rarely have time for that, particularly during finals so instead, I make them on pita bread. Those flat Mediterranean breads that people sometimes cut in half to make pocket sammiches. Yeah, them. I make pizza on them.
It works! Really! No, really.
The friend who suggested I make and eat spanikopita filling to satisfy my craving had never had a pita pizza and didn’t think it would work. He’s now a believer. Try it. You will be too.
What you need:
1 pita bread
olive oil
1 clove of garlic
¼ of an onion
¼ tsp oregano
2 cups of raw spinach
2 strips of cooked bacon
1 tbsp finely chopped sundried tomatoes
½ cup of crumbled feta cheese (or chevre or mozza)
Dammit, I forgot to take a pic of the ingredients... okay, right here, imagine all those thing arranged all pretty on the counter about to be turned into yummy 'za.
What you gotta do:
Mince the garlic, dice the onion and chop the spinach.
I know it looks like a lot of spinach, but spinach loses close to 90% of its volume when you cook it. (And it looks like even more than a lot in the pic because I actually made 4 cups and froze half once it was cooked so I’d have some ready to go the next time I craved spinach or pizza)
Sautee the garlic, onion and oregano for a few minutes in a bit of olive oil, then add the spinach and watch it shrink. It’s done when it’s dark green and no longer losing volume.
Scoop the spinach onto a pita bread and spread it out evenly. (or, if you made as much as I did, scoop half onto the pita and the other half into a freezer bag for pizza another day)
Top with chopped bacon and sundried tomatoes.
Cover with cheese.
Bake at 375 until the cheese starts to brown, but before the edges of the pita get too brown. Really only about 12-15 minutes.
Much faster than delivery.
Enjoy while studying for your calculus final. Remember, the derivative of sin(x) is cos(x) but the derivative of cos(x) is –sin(x).
I got a B in Calculus. What grade would you give the pizza?
Oh, and don't forget to enter the contest! If no one wins, Taneasha's going to have to send that adorable little egg flipper to me!
Reader Comments (11)
Yummy. I sometimes make mini pizzas with flour tortillas. I love spanikopita. I have to force myself not to buy them. Because I'll eat them all. All By Myself.
I have tortillas, bacon, spinach, onions, and sundried tomato and herb feta cheese. I think I know what I'm having for lunch, or maybe breakfast, lol.
Yummy! I think I'd like that with a glass of white wine for dinner! (I love bacon!)
SO CUTE! I love spinach pizza and this looks too easy to pass up. Today's a snow day, so I'm going to need to make something to keep the natives from eating bowl after bowl of cereal. Like Lia, I only have tortillas, so we'll have to improvise.
Y'all are definitely bookmarked!
I've made pita pizzas but never a Greek one. I love spinach so this is one I might actually try.
I love pita pizzas! So easy when you have a craving! I always feel more free to experiment with my toppings when I'm already "outside the box" with the crust. My favourite is garlic alfredo sauce for base, mushrooms and onions, spinach, and goat cheese. Delish!
@Lia : I've tried making pizza type tings on tortillas, but they've never really worked for me. I can't get them to crisp up in the middle. They end up all soggy... and then the tortilla rips because they're thin...
How do you do it??
@ Tara: Mushrooms! That's what it was missing! And alfredo... you know, a little alfredo on the side for dipping makes pizza just divine! I haven't done that in forever! Must.
What a cool idea! I love pita bread and admit to having a bit of an obsession with pizza...but I never thought about putting the two together. I rarely have time to make a proper yeast crust either, but I will definitely try this.
*happy sigh* this is a match made in Heaven--or at least the food network. I like your sideways picture and the way the feta sticks up. :)
That looks very yummy. Hubby and I often make pizzas with tortillas as the base. They cook quickly, although you have to have minimal toppings. You can't load it up. I adore spinach so I'll definitely try this recipe.
Seeley,
I have a pizza stone and a blasting hot oven.