I received a recipe years ago from a Greek church festival for Spanakopeta Spinach Squares (basically a Greek spinach pie recipe). The recipe calls for 1C of cream sauce. however no recipe was provided for the sauce. I am guessing it is a Greek Bechamel sauce. Any ideas how to make this? I checked the church's website and no recipes are provided. Anyone have a recipe for this, which is baked in a approx. 11 x 14 x 2 pan, and cut in squares for serving?

Hello! I'm not sure it will help, but this is a recipe I've used that's very good...and doesn't use a bechamel.

Spanakopita (Makes approximately 15 strudels)

Note: If you like, you can make these much smaller and serve them as appetizers. You can also get them ready to the point of baking them, put them on a baking sheet and into the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can put them in a plastic bag (the initial freeze on the sheet insures they won't stick together once in the bag), and store them in the freezer for next time.

3-4 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 T. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Plain dry bread crumbs
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (about 12 oz.) small-diced feta cheese (Use a high-quality feta; French feta is smoother and a little less salty)
3 T. toasted pine nuts
24 sheets frozen filo dough, defrosted
Flaked sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the scallions and cook for another 2 minutes until the scallions are wilted but still green. Meanwhile, gently squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a large bowl. (Tip - A potato ricer is very handy for squeezing water out of the spinach.)

When the onion and scallions are done, add them to the spinach. Mix in the eggs, Parmesan cheese, 3 tbsp. bread crumbs, the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Gently fold in the feta and pine nuts.

Place on sheet of filo dough flat on a work surface with the long end in front of you. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil and sprinkle it with a teaspoon of bread crumbs. Working quickly, slide another sheet of filo dough on top of the first, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs. (Use just enough bread crumbs so the layers of filo don't stick together.) Pile 4 layers on top of each other this way brushing each with olive oil and sprinkling each with bread crumbs.

Cut the sheets of filo in thirds lengthwise. Place 1/3 cup spinach filling on the shorter end and roll the filo up diagonally as if folding a flag. They fold the triangle of filo over straight and then diagonally again. Continue folding first diagonally and then straight until you reach the end of the sheet. The filling should be totally enclosed. Place each finished strudel, seam side down, on a baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil.

Continue assembling filo layers and folding the filling until all of the filling or all of the sheets have been used. Sprinkle sea salt over the finished strudels and bake for 30-35 minutes until the filo is browned and crisp. Serve hot or warm.

One more thing I remembered is this spinach pie. It's pretty much spanakopita but all baked in one dish. I recommend French feta with this recipe, too.

Spinach Pie

2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 T. olive oil
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
3 (10-oz) packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
6 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 T. dry plain breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup pine nuts (pignoli)
1/4 lb. salted butter, melted
6 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted

Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

In a medium saute pan on medium heat, saute the onions with the olive oil until translucent and slightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and allow to cool slightly.

Squeeze out and discard as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible (again...potato ricer!). Put the spinach into a bowl, then gently mix in the onions, egg, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, feta and pignoli.

Butter an ovenproof, non-stick, 8-inch saute pan and line it with 6 stacked sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with melted butter and letting the edges hang over the pan.

Pour the spinach mixture into the middle of the phyllo and neatly fold the edges up and over the top to seal in the filling.

Brush the top well with melted butter. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and the filling is set.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Testing.