Mama's Spinach Pita

Pita is my ultimate comfort food. The top layer of Phyllo dough get perfectly crisp in the oven, and the cheesy spinach mixture is warm and soft on the inside. Since I was a little girl, my mom would make a large pan of pita for every occasion. Birthday party, feeling sick, Sundays, holidays, driving home from college, then again the day I was driving back to college. My college roommates always loved the day I drove home so we could all dig in to that pan of pita. It was the first thing that came to mind when I started feeling bad, and since I managed to work through the random food in the fridge, I went ahead and put in my order for groceries with Prime.

There's an email my mom sent me back in college when I attempted pita for the first time, and that email has been forwarded on to so many friends. It is the original Mama's spinach pita recipe! She adds variations in every now and then, but this one comes out perfect every time. Since I don't have my number one eater in the house right now (Walker), I halved the recipe, and used this pan. The original recipe is meant to fit in your largest metal roasting pan (like this). I've tried it in glass and ceramic, and it's just not the same!

Ingredients

• Phyllo dough sheets (I use Athens brand)

• One bag of spinach

• 4 eggs

• Cottage cheese, 24 oz

• Sour cream, 8 oz

• Salt

• 1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil

• 1/2 stick of butter

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and place the oven rack in the center.

2. Combine eggs, cottage cheese, and sour cream. Set aside.

3. Chop the spinach, and add it to the egg and cheese mixture. Add in 1/2 cup of canola oil.

4. Melt the butter and use a pastry brush to butter a large metal pan (I use 16x13).

5. Put three sheets of the dough on the bottom of the pan. Between each sheet, use the pastry brush to sprinkle some butter around. You do not need to brush the butter on, just leave it sprinkled around. Don't drench the sheets in butter either, it's too thin and will become soggy.

6. On top of the three sheets of dough, put 1/3 of the spinach and cheese mixture, enough to cover the pan in an even layer.

7. Repeat the layering of the dough and spinach two more times.

8. Lay three more Phyllo dough sheets on top of the final spinach layer, and for the top sheet you can use the brush to brush an even, thin amount of butter to coat the top.

9. Cut the pita into squares before putting it in the oven.

10. Bake for one hour, and allow 5-10 minutes to cool before eating. Enjoy!