Spanakopita

Spanakopita, the classic Greek dish, can be braaied very successfully by using mild coals and a hinged grid. So you braai it like a braaibroodjie, but it takes a bit longer.

WHAT YOU NEED

(Makes 9 – 12)

600 g baby spinach
1 onion
1 tot olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
200 g feta (drained weight)
1 egg
2 packets puff pastry (400 g each; defrosted)

WHAT TO DO

Thoroughly rinse the spinach to get rid of any sand and shake, spin or let stand to get rid of excess water. Chop the spinach in whatever haphazard way pleases you. Precision in chopping baby spinach that will still be wilted is so utterly unimportant that this is a perfect job for somebody who wants to help, but whose help you don’t really trust. Also finely chop the onion, as fine as your assistant’s interpretation of finely is. Does it really matter? No.
Using a big pan or any potjie, fry the onion in the oil until it’s soft and starts to turn golden brown. Add the spinach. You may find that you struggle to fit all the spinach in, but as soon as it starts to cook the spinach will wilt down to a fraction of its original size. Let the spinach cook for a few minutes to release any excess moisture, and let that moisture cook off. If you have one, you can also do this step on a stove. The spanakopita will get its braai taste later on anyhow. Take the pan or potjie off the heat and transfer the fried spinach and onion to a large mixing bowl. Season with the salt and pepper.
Crumble the feta into the mixing bowl and mix that in. As soon as the spinach has cooled down to lukewarm, as opposed to cooking hot, whisk the egg in a cup and add the egg to the spinach mixture. Mix well.
The most difficult part of this recipe is to perfectly thaw the pastry. Do it too aggressively in the sun and it melts to an uncontrollable soft mess. Leave it too late and you have half frozen pastry that cracks as you unroll it. So good luck and common sense are your friends. Mild room temperature works best. Unroll 1 puff pastry sheet and gently put that sheet down on the inside of a hinged grid. Spoon the filling evenly over the sheet, leaving a border of about 2 cm empty. Now unroll the second sheet and put that on top of the filled bottom layer. I used to pinch all the borders together to close the thing like a pie, but I don’t do that anymore. Leave it as is – so sheet, filling and sheet in a hinged grid.
Close the grid to the extent that you’re not squeezing the pastry. Braai the spanakopita over medium coals, with the grid fairly high, for 25 minutes until it is golden brown and cooked. Your only risk is burning the pastry, so rather go too slow than too fast. As you braai, lift the top half of the grid off the surface of the pastry after every time you turn the grid to make sure the pastry doesn’t rise or bake ‘into’ the grid. So, for the turning part, it’s a more tightly closed grid and for the rest of the time braai it with the top half of the hinged grid effectively open.
When the spanakopita is ready, carefully slide or lift the pie off the grid and put it onto a wooden chopping board. The brave and skillful braaier flips it from one side of the grid onto the wooden plank by putting the wooden board onto the spanakopita in an open grid, your one hand on the plank and other hand holding the handle of that side of the grid and flipping the whole unit. If you don’t understand what I mean, don’t try this move.
Once on the wooden board, slice into squares or triangles and serve with lemon wedges.