Happy first day of Spring!
I’m ecstatic that it’s getting warmer out and that the days are getting longer. To celebrate, I’m cooking up some Greek food because Greek cuisine is my favorite. I’m half Greek so I might be partial. 😉
Most people are familiar with spinach pie (spanakopita). It’s a pie made with buttery flaky layers on top and bottom and loaded with a spinach filling. It’s one of my favorite Greek dishes.
A few years ago I turned the traditional spinach pie into a quesadilla. I wanted all the same flavors but less work (and calories). For fun, I also added some chicken to those quesadillas.
The spinach pie chicken quesadillas were a huge hit so I thought I’d make them again but vegetarian style. Since a little bit of protein is still a good idea, I decided that these quesadillas would have white beans to serve that role.
Guys, the spinach filling is amazing. My husband and I took some of the leftovers and mixed it with rice (instead of tortillas). It’s that good. It went from fun appetizer to regular dinner with only one ingredient changed. Look at that, I just gave you two recipes in one. 😉
Spinach Pie Bean Quesadillas Recipe
(Makes about 8 to 12 servings, if served as an appetizer)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons of oil, divided per the directions
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 10 ounces spinach (I used thawed frozen spinach.)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
- 2 ounces of cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese
- 4 ounces feta cheese, chopped
- 1 can (15.5 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 to 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
Directions:
- In a skillet, over medium heat, heat a 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Add the chopped onions and cook them until they are tender and slightly browned.
- Add in the spinach, salt, pepper, parsley, and dill, and mix everything together. If you use frozen spinach, then cook it until the water from the spinach has evaporated. If you use fresh spinach, then cook it until the spinach has wilted.
- Turn the heat down to low, add the cream cheese, and stir it until it’s combined.
- Add in the feta cheese and beans, and stir everything together.
- Remove the spinach mixture from the heat.
- Clean out the skillet. This is a little bit of a pain, I know, but if you have any leftover bits when you start frying the tortillas they tend to stick.
- To build each quesadilla:
- In a skillet, over medium heat, heat a 1/2 teaspoon of oil. Make sure to spread the oil around the skillet. It’s a very light coating.
- Lay 1 tortilla in the skillet.
- Spread about 1 cup of spinach filling over the entire quesadilla. Carefully!
- Place a 2nd tortilla on top of the spinach layer and gently press it down.
- After about 1 minute, lift the corner of the quesadilla to check the underside. When you see golden brown spots on the underside of the tortilla, the quesadilla is ready to flip.
- Use a spatula to lift the quesadilla out of the skillet. (I keep a plate around to put it on while I do the next step.)
- Add a 1/2 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and again spread it around the skillet.
- Immediately add the quesadilla back to the skillet with the uncooked tortilla faced down on the skillet.
- Let it cook for about 1 minute. Once you see golden brown spots on the bottom again, remove the quesadilla to a cutting board.
- Cut the quesadilla into 4 to 8 wedges.
- Repeat the above steps 1 through 10 until you run out of something.
Source: Tina’s Chic Corner
can you please talk about the beans in this recipe? I think they were omitted.
Thank you for letting me know! I fixed it. 🙂
What a good idea! So much easier and faster to make it this way. Love this Tina.