Spanakopita Bites

This is another recipe which my sister will be serving at her birthday party.  I made a double batch.  I had to laugh,  as I was trying one  (and I only ate 2)  some spam came across my phone: "Lose 27 lbs of Belly Fat in 1 Month."  Is this some sort of sick joke?    After making over 100 of these,  I will never look at homemade appetizers the same way again.  VERY time consuming, but delicious!  

Yields 60-72 mini muffin sized bites per recipe

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small chopped onion
3 green chopped onions
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
6 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 cup Ricotta cheese (I used whole milk)
1 egg
Pepper to taste
1 lb thawed phyllo dough  (I had some left over)
1 stick melted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat.  Add white and green onions:  cook until softened
• Mix spinach, feta, ricotta and egg in a bowl.  Add the cooked onions.  Season with pepper
• Cover and refrigerate
• Remove phyllo dough and stack up
• Melt butter along with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• Cut the dough into 2 x 2 inch squares;  set aside
• In a small muffin pan, brush each section with butter mixture
• Add 2 phyllo squares and brush with more butter (repeat 2 more times so that there are 6 squares of phyllo in each section of the muffin pan)  Finish by brushing the top with more butter
• Place a heaping teaspoon of cheese mixture into each phyllo cup
• Place muffin tins in a preheated oven of 375 degrees
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown

**Take a butter knife, and gently lift each appetizer out of the muffin tin, and onto a cooling rack.  Once cooled, it can be frozen for up to 1 month.  You can reheat frozen on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 10+ minutes. (or until the middles are warmed through)

**Since I had left over phyllo squares,  I buttered a 9 x 13 pan,  spread a layer of squares down,  added more butter and then sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top.  I repeated until there were no squares left.  I spread butter on the top and baked for 15 minutes.   The kids loved it!

-Queenie Cuisine