I don’t think it is possible to ruin this dish as far as the ingredients go. I have changed my ingredients and quantities with the end result always being delicious. The most important part is to take the time to squeeze the juices out of the spinach/onion mixture and baking it long enough so that the phyllo dough is nice and golden brown. You want a crispy pastry not a soggy one.

Ingredients:
Olive oil for frying
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 bags of fresh baby spinach or 3-4 10 oz. pkgs frozen spinach
1/2 cup parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup or just one container crumbled feta cheese
Salt and pepper (optional)
10-12 sheets phyllo dough
Olive oil/melted butter for phyllo dough

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly oil a 9×9 inch square baking pan.

Heat approx. 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Once cool you need to squeeze out the juice to help prevent the phyllo dough from getting soggy. I have found that the easiest method is just to use your hands and squeeze so be sure the mixture is cool enough to handle.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, feta, salt and pepper. I use a Mediterranean blend of salt I purchased from Tait Farm. It is a coarse salt with herbs and I add approx. 1/2 Tbsp-basically I just dump some into the palm of my hand and eyeball it. Stir in spinach mixture.

Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil/melted butter (you can use a mixture of the melted butter and olive oil or use one or the other). Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process until you have used half of the sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot. You can prepare ahead of time and freeze when you bake it, adjust the time to 1 hour.

Crust:
1 C. Shortening
3 C. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
9 Tbsp. Cold Water

Filling:
12-16 Apples
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
4 Tbsp. Butter
1/2 C. Flour

Cut shortening into flour and salt, using knives, pastry cutter or fingers into the consistency of a coarse meals. Add enough water to form a stiff dough. Divide dough into quarters and roll out to be slightly larger than a 9-inch pie dish. I rolled out the bottom crusts then covered the two remaining balls of dough in plastic wrap to roll out after I make the filling and filled the bottom crusts.

Core and pare the apples; cut into thin slices then into smaller pieces. No need to make it pretty. I threw all the apples into a large mixing bowl as I sliced them. Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and flour and stir well. (I used 14 apples, again they were very large apples – since it was obvious I had more apples than I needed for two pies I added another 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 C. sugar, and 1/4 C. flour to compensate) Fill the bottom pie crust with the apple filling. I piled them high and packed down just a little. Dot with butter then roll out the top crusts and cover. Trim off the excess dough and press the edges together. Bake 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees, then lower heat to 350 degrees and bake 30 to 45 minutes.

After trimming the double crust pies, I had enough dough to roll out one more crust. Then filled with the remaining apples. I cheated and used a packet of instant oatmeal, added a little butter then sprinkled on top.