Spanikopita: Greek Spinach and Cheese Cassarole

I recently made a tray of this for a friend, and promised them a recipe.  Technically, what I make is spanikotiropita (it has more cheese than you are used to).  You can use this same recipe to make spanikopita (mostly spinach, with just a bit of cheese) or tiropita (no spinach, more cheese) as well, just change the ratios.  If you're planning on this being a "main course" I think this is the best ratio.  If it's a side, use more spinach and less cheese.  If it's an appetizer, use more cheese.

So, here's a recipe (which won a prize at my cousin's Greek church in 1995, but I made them pull it from the cookbook when I found out they used the funds to proselytize instead of for proper charity)

To make one 9x12 tray, you will need:

• 9x12 lasagne pan (or whatever size you have)
• 1 box DEFROSTED #4 or #7 phyllo dough.  Most large grocers have this in the freezer section, near the pie crusts.  "Country style" (#10) is ok, but will not be as crispy.  Let the dough defrost overnight on the counter.  Usually, a box has two "tubes" in it.  We will use only one in this recipe.  I usually double it to make 2 trays at a time, and freeze one.  It freezes/defrosts very well, and it doesn't take much longer to make 2 trays than one.  If you freeze a tray, remember to slice it first, so you can get individual pieces out of the freezer one at a time)
• 1 pound cheese.  This should be a combination of feta and cream cheese.  The exact ratio depends on the feta.  The sharper you want it, the less cream cheese you should use.  Proportion to your taste.  When I make it for myself, I use all feta, and try to get the sharpest, briniest, goatiest feta I can find, but that's sort of an acquired taste.   Most non-Mediterranean folk seem to like it about half and half.
• 1 lb frozen cut spinach.  you can use fresh spinach, but frozen is cheaper and better. If it's fresh, cook it first.
• 1 onion (optional)
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)
• white wine (optional)
• garlic.  you will need way more than you think, but the amount depends on the freshness and variety.  If you use minced garlic from a jar, you will need maybe 3 tablespoons.  If fresh pressed, about 6-12 cloves.
• other spices.  I usually use black pepper, oregano, basil, with some bits of mint, thyme, and marjoram but it depends on the season and what I have on hand.  Garlic mustard is excellent. Personally, I like to add dittany of crete, which tastes like a cross between oregano and marjoram and is also excellent for love spells, spirit evocation, time travel, and journeying in the Other Places, but it's kind of hard to find.  (I got my recent supply in a flea market in Lavrion, the oldest mining town in Europe, en route back to Athens from the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion.)  Whatever you have that you think will be delicious is fine.  Unless your feta is very weak, you don't need extra salt.
• 1 stick of butter or 1/2 cup of olive oil, or a mixture of the two
• 2 eggs
• cheese cloth (you can use paper towels if you don't have cheesecloth) and a colander
• a dish towel
• an apron or a shirt you don't care about.  this can get messy.

To prepare:

• defrost the phyllo on the counter overnight.
• do not open the phyllo until instructed to do so.  it dries out quickly.
• put the cream cheese on the counter to warm up.
• roughly chop the walnuts and soak them in the wine until they are slimy, but not mushy
• preheat the oven to 350'F
• wash your hands
• melt the butter in a small bowl.  it needs to be fully liquid, not just soft.
• Defrost the spinach in the microwave until it is steaming (use a plate!  the boxes leak!) and let it cool.  it cools faster if you spread it out.
• Dice and sauté the onions in generous butter or olive oil until translucent, and beginning to caramelize.  This takes longer than you think it will.
• Strain the spinach.  This is the KEY step.  Get ALL the water out.  Layer cheesecloth in the colander, and push.  Squish it through the cheesecloth as hard as you can.  You want it as dry as it can be.  SQUEEEEEZE!!!  The goal is to get it into a small fist-size ball that is almost completely dry.  The spinach water is good in soup, or you can boil pasta in it.  You can also feed it to a garden.  Don't waste it.
  
• Check the walnuts; they should be sufficiently slimy by now.
• In a bowl, mix the cheeses, spices, onions, eggs and drained walnuts.
• Butter the pan
• Make sure your hands are totally dry, and then unroll the phyllo dough
• Place one sheet of phyllo in the pan.  It's bigger than the pan.  That's ok.  just let it slop over the sides.  It's ok if it rips some, just overlap it a little wherever it tore.
• Dip your hands in the butter, and smear them on the phyllo.  I like to paint magic symbols with butter on the dough, but you do you.  
• Place another sheet, butter it.  You MUST butter between EVERY layer.  Don't be lazy.
• Use 10 sheets, total, for the bottom.
• Smoosh in a layer of the spinach/cheese goo, about 2/3 of an inch thick.
• lay and butter 5 more layers of dough.  It's ok if your hands still have cheese/spinach goo.  No one will see the inside layers.
• Add another layer of spinach/cheese goo
• Lay another 5 more layers of phyllo, buttering between each.
• Add a final layer of spinach/cheese
• Trim off all the extra phyllo dough
• Add 3 layers of phyllo, buttering between each layer.
• Wash and dry your hands.
• Butter your hands
• Carefully, layer 2 more layers of phyllo, making sure they are pretty and smooth and unripped.
• Wash and dry your hands.  Take a moment to appreciate how soft the butter made your skin.
• Trim the phyllo carefully, and make it all nice and pretty.  
• When I make this at Christmas time, I sometimes make a tree out of spinach on the top.  After it bakes, you can give it a tiny red pepper star on top.
• Bake at about 350 degrees for about half an hour, or until the top is golden and crispy.
• Do you have some extra cheese goo?  Mix it into scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow.  Very delicious!