When I was a kid, my mother used to make a “börek” (general name for many salty pastries in Turkish) with phyllo dough called “muska” (amulet in English). These were little triangles with cheese filling, fried in vegetable oil. I always hated the name because it came from the religious nonsense. But the pastries, they were gooooood!

 

 

So, years later, I wanted to make a spinach, feta, onion version of these triangles. I don’t like frying, so I baked my triangles, using tons of butter.

 

 

 

Ok, it’s not entirely tons of butter. But, it is necessary amount of butter. Here is the thing: the phyllo dough is quite thin. It is different than what we have in Turkey. Therefore, you need a few layers for each triangle. Which means, each layer has to be “glued” to each other. Which means, melted butter is needed. And it also keeps the triangles crispy!

 

 

You can enjoy these crispy spinach triangles with tea or coffee as a snack, as a side dish with a main course or even for breakfast/brunch. A very versatile dish indeed! Enjoy!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty: ★★☆ (Medium)
(makes 20 triangles)

 

Printable PDF-recipe (no photos)

 

2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
250 gr. spinach, finely chopped
salt to taste (depends on the saltiness of your feta!)
150 gr. feta, cubed or crumbled
100 gr. butter, cubed to make it easier to melt
60 phyllo strips, size:8x35cm

 

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1. In a big pan, put olive oil on medium high heat and let it warm for half a minute. Add onions and saute until they are mostly cooked, on medium high heat, by stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes.

 

 

 

 

2. When onions are done, add spinach and salt if needed and cook them altogether for about 5 more minutes, until spinach is cooked and well blended with onions.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Take the pan away from the heat and transfer to bowl. Let it cool for a few minutes and then add feta and mix well.

 

 

 

 

4. Put butter cubes in a saucepan and melt. Let it cool for a couple of minutes.

 

 

 

5. Before you start making the assembly of pastries, preheat the oven to 200C.

 

6. Put one strip on the table. Brush gently with melted butter. Put a second layer on top and brush gently with melted butter. Finally, put a third layer on top and brush gently with melted butter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Put about 1.5 tbsp filling on the corner of the strip.

 

 

 

8. Start folding diagonally to create a triangle. Continue until the end of the strip. If the end of the strip is not enough to keep at the bottom and there is a bit of extra, you can cut that piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Put the pastries on a baking tray with a baking paper (or a lightly greased tray) and bake for 12- 15 minutes, until corners start to brown. When baked, take out of the oven and leave on the tray for just a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so that they stay crispy while cooling. Enjoy!