Aleppo Pepper

Day 27 of Spicemas

Peppers: chilies, paprika, Aleppo, dried, fresh, smoked and sweet. There are so many ways to prepare them, and despite the fruits being the same species, the varieties all have different flavors they bring to the table. This one is piquant, a medium spicy, and offered in coarse flakes rather than a finely ground powder. I was introduced to it by friend and collaborator LawDog, so it’s a relatively new addition to my spice stash, and a welcome one. The bright citrusy flavor is marvelous, and it’s warm without being fiery as peppers go.

I can’t call this spanakopita, as I altered the cookbook recipes I was looking at to suit my own tastes and ideas. I wanted to spice it up, add more dimensions of flavor, and I think I succeeded.

Spinach Pie

• 4 oz filo dough (roughly 1/4 package)

• 10 oz fresh spinach*

• 1 medium onion, diced fine

• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/4 tsp mace

• 1 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes

• 2 tsp dried lemon peel, minced

• 8 oz feta cheese

• 2 eggs

• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F

Fry onion in a little olive oil until translucent over med-low heat. Add in the garlic, then the spinach handfuls at a time, adding more as it wilts down. Stir as it fries. You want to cook out most of the moisture. Once this is done, set it aside.

What the finished vegetable layer should look like.

Mix or blend together the feta cheese, which can be crumbled beforehand or just roughly broken up before putting in a food processor or blender, with the two eggs.

In a 8x8” baking dish, layer 6-7 sheets of filo dough, brushing each layer lightly with olive oil (or melted butter). Pour the egg and cheese mixture in, smoothing it even and level. Then spoon in the vegetable layer and level it out.

On top of the filling, later another 6-8 sheets of filo, brushing each layer with olive oil. I sprinkled a little Aleppo Pepper on top before sliding it into the oven. Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, until the top is crisp and brown, and if you can see the filing, it’s bubbling.

Allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving. Serves two if used as a full meal, or four if a side dish.

I’d had spinach arrive bruised, so this was perfect for using that up, highlighting the pepper, and using up part of a container of filo from the freezer. Still have some to go on that, but I have ideas. Which may not make the blog as I intend to stop food all the time at the end of the month!

The lemon, piquancy of the pepper, oxalic acid of the spinach, and the cheese all played well together in bringing a more citrusy flavor to this dish than it would usually have. The warmth of the pepper was very nice, but the mace was entirely lost to my palette. We both love feta cheese, but if you don’t, you could use a ricotta. I think it would lose a lot, but I do understand not everyone loves a strong cheese! If you did, you’d want to salt your cheese and egg mixture, at least a teaspoon and maybe a bit more than that. Feta is quite briny, so I added no salt and it didn’t need it.

*This would be very doable with frozen spinach. Simply thaw it, squeeze as much liquid out as possible, and add it to the onions, cooking only long enough to ensure there isn’t any runny liquid left in it.