Spinach And Feta Triangles

The night before:

1. Add phyllo in the fridge to unfreeze overnight.

Prepare The Spinach (if using fresh):

1. Remove the spinach bottoms and any yellowish old leaves. Don't throw away the stems. Fill your sink or a very large bowl with water. Add the spinach and let it soak for 5 minutes. Transfer in a strainer. Discard the water and fill it with plenty of fresh water. Add the spinach, without letting it soak this time transfer to a strainer and let sit for a while to drain excess water.
2. Chop the spinach finely especially the stems and add to a bowl.
3. Remove the bottom tips of the green onions as well as any outer yellowish or old skin if there is any. Rinse the onions well. Cut and separate the white parts from the green ones. Chop the green parts and add to the bowl containing the spinach.
4. Chop the white parts and set them aside on their own.
5. In a medium-sized cooking pot, heat a good splash of olive oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the minced red onion and cook for a minute or two until it starts to get some color. Add the white parts of the green onions and the chopped garlic clove. Cook until softened and golden in color.
7. Add the spinach to the pot in batches (fresh or frozen). Stirring with a wooden spoon. Once all the spinach is added, sprinkle some kosher salt in. But just a pinch to help the spinach remove its juices. No need to season properly as the feta cheese will add all the salinity the filling needs.
8. Cook the spinach for about 3-4 minutes until it softens. If there is too much water in the pot, cook a bit more until most of it drains (no need to wait for it to drain completely).
9. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the fresh herbs. Let the mixture cool down to the point you can hold it with your hands.
10. Once cooled down, squeeze the mixture really well with your hands to remove all excess water from the spinach. Then add in mixing bowl. This is an important step to ensure the pies get really crispy when cooked and the phyllo pastry to not get soggy.
11. Add the Anthotyro (or Ricotta) cheese, the feta cheese, the beaten eggs, and Greek yogurt to the bowl with the squeezed spinach. Mix well with a spoon to thoroughly combine.
12. Preheat oven to 190°C / 374°F.
13. Remove the phyllo pastry from its package and lay it flat on a working surface. Keep it covered with a tea towel so it won't air-dry.
14. Take a sheet of phyllo and lay it in front of you widthwise. Using a pastry brush, gently grease it with the sunflower (or vegetable) oil. Take another phyllo sheet and place it on top the same way. Again grease well with the oil.
15. With a sharp cutting knife, cut and divide the phyllo into 5 equal long strips.
16. Take a spoonful (not too full) of the filling and add it to the bottom end of each strip. Overlap the bottom in order to cover the filling and press gently to stick together. Then start folding in order to form a triangle. Towards the left then towards the right repeating this until you get the top end of the strip.
17. Place in a baking tray or large pan covered with parchment paper. Leave 1 cm space between each pie triangle. Repeat the process for remaining phyllo and filling. You will need two baking trays (or large pans) as there will be 30 pies. And each pan will fit about 15. Or you can bake the first batch, add a new piece of parchment paper and then bake the next batch.
18. Grease the Spinach pie triangles with plenty of oil o top. Then use a toothpick and prick each triangle 5-6 times. This helps the steam that is created within the pies while baking to escape and prevent them from exploding.
19. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until deep golden on top. Carefully transfer on a cooling rack to cool down properly and keep nice and crispy throughout the day.
20. These pies will keep nice and crispy on the day they're made. If you place them in the fridge for the next day keep in mind that the phyllo won't be the same as it is going to get really soft. So if you think 30 pies are too many, simply bake half of them the one day and half the next day. Or even place half of them in the freezer for future use as instructed in the post.