Christine, one of the granddaughters of our founders, shares her signature dish for Chicken Spanakopita. It’s a wonderful nutritious celebration of all things delicious! Chicken tenderloins, fresh leafy spinach, leek, creamy fetta cheese, chilli, pine nuts and the very important addition of one of our grandfather’s favourite flavours – freshly ground coriander seeds. It’s Christine’s spin on a traditional Greek favourite and we’re sure you’ll love it as much as we do.
Ingredients
375g Antoniou Fillo Pastry
500g chicken tenderloins
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
Salt and pepper to taste
1 leek, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch English Spinach
1 ½ cup crumbled fetta
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
Olive oil, for brushing
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Recipe tips
Spring form tin
Using a spring form tin creates beautiful golden colour around the sides of the pie & makes serving easy.
Straining the spinach
It is critical to strain the spinach well before combining with the other filling ingredients, to prevent your spanakopita from being soggy.
Method
Before you begin this Filo Pastry recipe, take your Filo Pastry out of the fridge to bring it up to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Marinate the chicken tenderloins in olive oil, chilli, oregano and coriander. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in a hot frypan until lightly browned on each side – the cooking will be finished off in the oven. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Over a medium heat, fry the leek in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and cook for a further minute. Transfer to a bowl.
Place spinach in a pan and cook until slightly wilted. Transfer to a strainer positioned over a bowl and allow the spinach to drain for at least 10 minutes.
Using your hands, squeeze out any excess liquid from the spinach. Add the spinach to the leek mixture. Shred the chicken and add it to the leek and spinach. Add the feta and pine nuts, and stir until all the ingredients have been well combined.
To assemble the Spanakopita
Grease a 20cm spring form cake tin with olive oil.
Brush one sheet of Filo Pastry with oil and drape it over the base of the tin, allowing the excess Fillo to hang over the sides. Continue this process, using 10 sheets in total. Oil one sheet of Fillo and scrunch it up into a loose ball. Place it in the base of the tin. Repeat this with one more sheet of Fillo.
Spoon the spanakopita mixture on top of the scrunched up Fillo and scatter with pine nuts. Place two more oiled and scrunched up pieces of Fillo on top. Fold the overhanging sheet of Pastry in and over the scrunched Fillo.
Brush another sheet of Fillo with oil and drape over the top. Tuck the overhanging Fillo into the sides of the tin using your pastry brush. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and crispy all over.
Allow the spanakopita to sit in the tin for 10 minutes before removing the collar and serving.