This is a dish that is embedded in the Greek culinary traditions for ages. It is based on the ingredients found in the Greek land, such as spinach and other greens, olive oil and flour. It is easy but it needs you to be organized because it takes time to make. Therefore, I would divide this recipe into three stages in order to be programmed and succeed. Firstly, the cleaning of your greens, secondly the making of the filling and the making of the pastry, thirdly the pastry kneading, filling and cooking (or storing).
Ingredients for the filling: fresh spinach, chervils or hartworts, swiss chards (all greens must amount to about 1kgr if no cheese is used in the recipe), 1 onion chopped, 2 spring onions chopped, 1 leek chopped, 1 bunch of fennel, 1 cup of olive oil, pepper, 2 tbsp of basmati rice, 1 vegetables cube without salt. If you wish to use cheese, I chose feta cheese for half the pies (for my relatives who eat salt) and non-salted light cheese (like ricotta cheese, for me as I don’t eat salt) for the other half. In total 0.5kgr cheese. As I used cheese, the greens that I finally utilized amounted to 0.5kgr. If you have residual greens, you put them raw (or cooked) in the freezer for future use
Ingredients for the puff pastry: 500gr all purpose flour, 130-140ml olive oil, 200 ml lukewarm water, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of sugar, 1 shot of vinegar. You will need excess olive oil and all-purpose flour for the kneading. If you have residual pastry, you make small balls, wrap in cling film and into the freezer for future usage
First stage: cut off the edges of your greens (spinach, chervils or hartworts, swiss chards, fennel) and cut them in 2-3 cm pieces. You do the same with the leek, onion and spring onions. Wash them out in a washbasin (with vinegar) and change 4-5 waters to dispose of all dirt. I kept the 0.5kgr of greens to saute in the pot and the rest drained and saved in the freezer for future use.
Second stage: Put 1 cup of olive oil in a deep pot and sauté the chopped onion, spring onions and leek in medium fire. Add some pepper and toss until withered. Add the greens and cover the pot to allow them to wither for 10min. Add the rice at the end and close the fire. Allow the filling to come to room temperature before you add the cheese - in small and big pieces - as it will melt, and the liquids will be disposed as they can’t be incorporated in the pie unless the rice manages to absorb them all (which is the reason we use it).
In a food processor, add 0.5kgr of all purpose flour, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of sugar, 130ml olive oil, 200 ml of water, neither hot nor cold, and mix well until it becomes a flexible soft dough which does not stick. Allow it to rest for 30min.
Third stage: on a clean counter, spread some all-purpose flour, take one small ball of your dough and slowly make a phyllo as thin as you can with a rolling pin. Ideally a good phyllo should be transparent. Apply olive oil with a brush on your phyllo and cut it into pieces in sizes that allow you to make the shape of pies you wish to make. Mistakes are allowed! I made triangle pies (most of them) like my grandmother used to. I also added some sesame on the pies with no salt added so as to separate them! Take a large tray, apply some greaseproof paper and spread the pies after you coat them with olive oil. Bake in pre-heated oven at 175C for 1 hour until they have a light brown color. You can re-apply olive oil in the first 30min.
You can bake some of your pies and you can store some to use in the future. Just store them in big tubs with some greaseproof paper and once needed, you take them out, place them on the tray, apply some olive oil and bake.
No need to defrost!
Enjoy!