How to make fillo pastry made from scratch – beginner friendly spanakopita recipe

Dough Ingredients

• 250g strong flour
• 25mls extra virgin olive oil
• 10mls white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 130mls lukewarm water plus 10-15mls extra (go by feel)

Method for making the dough for fillo pastry

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt.
2. In a small bowl, combine the water, vinegar and olive oil.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and pour in all the wet ingredients. At this stage, all the flour may not have been incorporated. Slowly add a very small drizzle of extra warm water at a time to the bowl and mix. Once all the flour has been absorbed by the dough stop adding water. The dough should feel soft and elastic. The dough should also feel tacky but not sticky.
4. Turn the dough onto your work surface and knead it for approximately 5 minutes or until it is smooth.
5. Add a teaspoon of olive oil into the bowl and spread it across the bottom and edges and place the dough to rest, coat with some olive oil so a crust does not form and then with cling wrap and rest for 1 – 2 hours at room temperature.

Filling Ingredients

• 180g baby spinach
• Handful dill, chopped
• Handful mint, chopped
• Handful spring onion, chopped
• 150g Greek Feta, Dodoni
• 1 tbsp EVOO, Molon Lave
• 2 eggs
• Salt & pepper to taste

For the Fillo Pastry

60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled for drizzling the filo

Equipment

• 30cm round baking tray
• Standard rolling pin
• Pastry Brush

Method for making the spanakopita

1. Preheat the oven to 180degrees.
2. Divide the dough into two pieces, one can be slightly bigger than the other. The larger pieces will form the bottom layer.
3. On a floured surface, roll out each piece of dough as large as you can get it and drizzle with cooled melted butter.
4. Roll up and turn into a spiral.
5. Allow to rest covered for 30 minutes.
6. After resting the dough spirals, roll out each spiral on a floured surface to fit the size of the baking tray.
7. Prepare the filling by mixing all the ingredients together.
8. Place the first piece of filo pastry down into the tray, followed by the filling and then the second piece of fillo pastry.
9. Seal the top & bottom edges by creating a braid, brush the whole surface with olive oil, score into pieces, and sprinkle a little water on top.
10. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden on top and underneath. The pie is ready when it freely moves in the baking tray. Allow to settle for a few minutes before taking out of the tray to avoid condensation. Best served after it has cooled a little.

Watch the step by step process in the below video on how to make filo pastry from scratch.