Spanakopita with Puff Pastry

I haven't made spanakopita in ages, primarily because I hate working with phyllo dough.  It dries out too easily, you go through a ton of butter, and any unused sheets in the box have to be trashed.

But I did have a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer, and figured a little cheaty one wouldn't taste awful.  It worked for the melitzanopita.

Speaking of cheating, I knew this was going to be on the menu during the pantry challenge and bought the cheese before January 1st.  That was the only ingredient I didn't have beforehand, so technically the whole dish cost me $5.

The main orphan pantry item this is using is the fried onions.  When you buy the full-sized can and only make a half-batch of green bean casserole, it's on to find a use for them other than snacking before they get stale.  I've always put sautéed onions in my spanakopita, but this sounded like a great idea.

*1 sheet puff pastry, plus flour for rolling
*1 lb frozen spinach, thawed and drained
*1 C crispy fried onions
1/2 C crumbled feta cheese
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tb melted butter

1.  Set puff pastry on a clean surface to thaw, about 30-45 minutes.

2.  In a bowl, stir together drained spinach, onions, and cheese.  My spinach wasn't very defrosted, and I didn't feel like getting another bowl dirty to microwave it.  Wasn't the end of the world, just made the filling more moist than I was expecting.  Add salt and pepper as desired, then stir in beaten egg so everything will bind together.  I tossed in the last tablespoon of pine nuts in the bag and half a teaspoon of chia seeds, but I'm not putting them in the recipe.

3.  Preheat oven to 425º.  Brush bottom of an 8"x8" casserole with some of the butter.

4.  On a floured surface, open the softened sheet of pastry.  It is 9" x 9", so you're going to end up with a bit of overhang no matter how it's rolled out.  Sprinkle more flour on top and roll out pastry to 9" x 16".  Or, if you're me, some weird configuration that yields an 9x8 square and enough trimmings to cover the top.  However it works for you, get a 9x8 square for the bottom of the dish and place it on top of the butter.

5.  Spoon the spinach filling onto the pastry bottom and spread to distribute evenly.  It's going to look like there isn't enough cheese, but this is a spinach pie, not a tyropita.  Top with remaining pastry, then brush the top with the remaining butter.

6.  Bake for 30 minutes, until pastry is cooked and filling is bubbly.  Let rest 10 minutes - or until no longer bubbling - before cutting into slices.

Difficulty rating  :)