There is a right way and a wrong way to make Spanakopita. The wrong way involves, in order, the following steps:

1. Read every Spanakopita recipe on the internets.
2. Mash them all together, but don’t actually refer to any of them while making the Spanakopita.
3. Defrost the phyllo dough in the fridge.
4. Make the filling.
5. WAIT A SOLID WEEK.
6. Feel guilt every time you open the fridge and see the filling staring you in the face.
7. Finally, get around to actually filling the triangles and baking them.

With me so far? Excellent. Because even though that is the exact wrong way to make Spanakopita, it turns out that even if you do this (and I’m not admitting that I did), it’s still completely delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 package phyllo sheets
• 1 package of frozen spinach
• 2 bunches of scallions, sliced thinly
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 lb feta, crumbled
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Defrost the phyllo sheets overnight in the fridge.
2. Defrost the spinach in the microwave.
3. Sauté the spinach and the scallions together for 4-5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and squeeze dry, with the help of a colander. The only real way to get that spinach really dry is to squeeze it with your hands.
5. Transfer to a bowl and stir in feta, nutmeg, a generous squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper. Feta tends to be pretty salty, so feel free to omit the salt if you can’t stand really salty food.
6. Melt the stick of butter.
7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
8. Open up your stack of phyllo sheets. Grab a piece of saran wrap with which to cover them.
9. Take a sheet, lay it out in front of you with the long edge facing you, and brush it with melted butter.
10. Take another sheet, lay it over the first one, and brush it with butter again.
11. Cut the sheets lengthwise into thirds. (You want long strips.)
12. Place a teaspoonful or so of the filling on the edge of one of the strips, and fold it over to form a triangle. Keep folding until you run out of strip to fold.
13. Place triangles seam side down on a baking sheet.
14. Brush triangles with more melted butter.
15. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, until deep golden brown.

Adapted from: Gourmet Magazine’s Spanakopita recipe.