Low fat Spanakopita (with onion weeds)

The first time I used filo, long time ago now, I learned to spread melted butter every two sheets of pastry. It seemed a lot but I didn't have the courage to skip this step. Then I started to put less and less (only for baklava I keep using lots of butter, but then you only get a tiny piece so that is ok, I guess :-), or to use olive oil, which felt more 'Mediterranean' than butter. But filo pastry is very low fat in itself and I wondered if I really needed to use fat... this version has no butter or oil, and yet it tastes great! 

Generally I use feta, spinach, garlic and cumin, or oregano. But while the onion weed abounds I thought "why not?", and made it with it.

I picked, washed and chopped some onion weed, using the bulbs, stems, leaves and flowers. I mixed with 600 g of frozen chopped spinach (defrosted at room temperature) and a big block of goat feta.

I used about 180 g of filo for this pie, half in the bottom, covered with the filling leaving a bit of a border, then I folded the borders in, and topped everything with the remaining filo sheets, tucking the borders under (like when you make a bed). I didn't spread any butter or oil between the filo sheets, instead I brushed the top and sides with water, so they didn't burn in the oven. This seems to be a common problem with filo pies, often the top gets really brown before the pie is cooked! I baked everything at 180° (fan) for about 30 minutes (didn't really check the exact time, sorry, but you can see it when is ready, the filo has colour underneath as well as at the top) and it was perfect!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©