Spinach Pie

I.  Love.  Spinach.  Pie.

It's one of those things I grew up on (I wrote a book in kindergarten, which I lost and need to find, called "We All Like Food" ...  It won an award, and I wrote about spinach pie).

My family has always made their own spinach pie - it's so easy to make...And much more delicious than a lot of those bakery calzones you can buy.

I love making these, and I can't believe I haven't blogged about them before!  I'm sure I've mentioned them....I guess I just never actually wrote about how to make them.  Well, here they are!!!

Once again, I used Homemade Pizza Dough, but you can use store bought dough, too.  Here's what you need to do:

For two loaves, I usually use 3 10-oz boxes of frozen chopped spinach (or 2 16-oz bags, whichever your supermarket carries).  Defrost in the microwave and squeeze out as much of the water as you possible can, once it has cooled down enough for you to touch.

Cooked spinach, cooling down before getting squeezed

While the spinach is cooling, I spread out enough dough for two loaves (this allows for some rising time).

Put the squeezed spinach into a mixing bowl, and add some seasonings:  Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Olive Oil (you can also add some red hot pepper flakes, if you want).  Also, I would strongly recommend adding some chopped black olives (I forgot to buy them, so these loaves were made sans olives).  Also, you can add some chopped pepperoni, too, if you want....

Mix the spinach and seasonings together, and taste as you go along to make sure there is enough salt, etc....

Squeezed spinach, in the mixing bowl, seasoned and ready to be mixed

Split the mixture in half and spread out over each of the two doughs.  At this point, you can also add some shredded mozzarella cheese (I only added it to one loaf).  Roll up the two loaves, and transfer them to a greased/oiled baking sheet.  Cut slits in the top to allow for excess moisture to escape (it will also prevent the spinach pie from getting big blowouts) and top with some oil for browning.  Bake at 425* for 20-25 minutes, until cooked and browned!!

Spread out and ready to be rolled!

Who can resist a cheesy spinach pie???

Cheesy spinach pie - ready to roll

Spinach pies, ready to bake (NOTE:  I put cheese on top of one of them,  and it  burned....If you want to put cheese on top, make sure you add it about 5 minutes before the loaves are ready to come out of the oven!!!)

Baked and beautiful (even with a bit of burned cheese...)

Cool, slice, and ENJOY!!!