Monday, August 12, 2013

Spanakopita Crescents

I guess by now you've figured out that I seem to attend a lot of gatherings where we serve food.  

I made some Spanakopita Crescents for a recent gathering, and since it is time for my group's Secret Recipe Club reveal, it was serendipitous for me to make these.    OK, so I was looking for any excuse to make them. 

Let me fill you in on the Secret Recipe Club first.   We're a group of bloggers who are assigned a blog to find and make a recipe from, and then we reveal all at a set time, that is we are to post our recipe at a certain time, all at once.    I don't know about the other bloggers, but I love to see what people choose from my blog, it's always fun to see the tweaks they put on my recipes.

Hey, I can't have all the great ideas, or tweaks as it were.   

And I get to explore a new blog.   Which is a good thing, cause I'm then forced to look for new stuff, and while that may not always be good for my waistline, it is good when it comes to all the entertaining I do.

This month my assigned blog was Flavors by Four, a mother daughter blogging team.   Which I think is so cool.  I'd like to think that if my Mom was still around she would help contribute to my blog.   Well, I guess she does anyway because a lot of the Danish recipes I post, I make just like Mom did.

At any rate, there were so many recipes to choose from, sigh.   I've made a list of the ones I'm going to try in the near future, the Homemade Queso Dip is one, the Mini Mac Cheese Bites is another one and there are so many more to try.
But I restrained myself and made these Spanakopita Crescents to take with me the other day.





The following is the original recipe and the changes (tweaks) I made are in blue to the side.
I have to say, these were inhaled in short order, and I got a lot of compliments on them.   


Ingredients:
1 container Pillsbury crescent rolls                  2 containers Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach (defrosted and drained)
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese                             6 oz. Crumbled Feta Cheese
3 green onions chopped                                 1/2 Sweet Onion, diced and sweated in pan
1 large clove of garlic minced                         1 clove elephant garlic, minced and sweated in pan
1 tbsp olive oil                                                1 tablespoon EVOO
1/2 tsp dill weed                                            1 tablespoon Za'atar  (I could not find my Dill)
1 tbsp lemon juice                                          I forgot the lemon juice, but I think it really could have used it
                                                                     1/2 cup toasted Pine Nuts
                                                                     2 eggs slightly beaten

Take out the spinach, defrost it and squeeze out the liquid.  I had it in a strainer for an hour but was running out of time, so I just picked it up and squeezed out the liquid.  You do want it on the dry side here.  Of course I got it a little too dry, so I added a couple of slightly beaten eggs.   I sweated the onions and garlic in the olive oil, just til the onions turned translucent and the garlic started to scent the air.   I added it to the Spinach and Feta.

 I also toasted some Pine Nuts, just cause they were sitting on the counter and caught my eye, and I thought Gee, Spanakopita is semi-greek in nature and Pine Nuts are used in Greece and ....   So I popped them in there.

I also could not find my dill, but the Za'atar was sitting in plain sight so I added it as well.

Mixed it all up together
And then took one package of Crescent Roll dough out of the fridge.   I played with a couple of ways of wrapping the spinach in them.
As you can see, then I  figured it out.
I rolled out the dough a little, divided it into fourths, and pinched the perforations together
I then put some of the mixture into the middle of the dough, brought up the opposite sides together and pinched them closed, (and did not realize that I forgot to take pictures at that point)  I tend to get into the zone when it comes to doing this stuff.  grrrrr
Placed them on a baking sheet and baked them for about 15 minutes or until they were a nice golden brown.
Just like this.   And I actually used two packages of Crescent Roll dough.   There was more than enough filling.  
I brought them to the gathering and added them to the rest of the offerings.
This picture was taken with my camera phone and it's not all that great.   As you can see the Spanakopita bites are there to the left, sorta in the middle.   And in the foreground, some really awesome brownies, made with mango's and tahini.  Yeah, Tahini, and a little Frangelico.   I will share this recipe once I get it.  They were really good.

So there you have it, my Secret Recipe Club offering for this month.  

 
Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

18 comments:

  1. These look so delicious and pretty and a lot less intimidating to make than using phyllo dough! I also love Zaatar!!

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    1. They were a big hit when I brought them to the gathering. I always enjoy it when I watch people eating and enjoying the food I make.

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  2. YUM! I love that you used crescent rolls and not phyllo dough...makes these less intimidating! Great SRC choice!

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    1. The crescent roll dough did make these a lot easier to handle. Phyllo dough can be rather, ummm, difficult.

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  3. I see you like minis. These immediately appealed to me when I saw that you chose them. I do want to repeat to you how much I enjoyed going through your blog and searching for new ideas. Plenty are here to be found. Thanks.

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    1. I do, we entertain a lot, and mini foods are a good thing. I'm glad you enjoyed my blog, feel free to stop in anytime.

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  4. I love spanikopita and these look like a great way to make them. Yummy!

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    1. I love Spanikopita and these were a great twist to them.

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  5. Those look delicious - I'd head right for those at any gathering! Wonderful choice!

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    1. A lot of people headed straight for these as well, by the time I thought to take a picture of the food, they were over half gone.

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  6. We are so glad you liked our Spanakopita Bites!! I really like the addition of Pine Nuts :)

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    1. It wasn't just me who liked them, everyone at the gathering seemed to like them, judging by how quickly they were eaten. Thanks for a great recipe, and one I'm sure I'll make again.

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  7. I LOVE spanakopita! These would be great to pack for work.

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  8. Your Spanikopita looks great! Loving your tweaks too. :)

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    1. I liked the addition of the Pine Nuts myself, and judging by how quickly they were eaten, I guess others did as well.

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  9. I love the finger-food convenience of these little bundles of spinach and cheese. What a terrific buffet item.

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    1. They were very well received, in other words, they were eaten in short order. It is a great buffet item, and really easy to make as well.

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