IN THE KITCHEN WITH: Village Cafe

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This week we in the kitchen at Village Cafe with owners Tom and Kay Kouvatsos, and Alex Kouvatsos as he prepares an authentic Greek spanakopita, a spinach and feta filling in a flaky phyllo dough crust.

Tom Kouvatsos comes from three generations of restauranteurs, and he and Kay opened Village Cafe on Siesta Key in 1996. 

Village Cafe offers both indoor and outdoor dining for breakfast and lunch in the heart of Siesta Key Village. The Kouvatsos are at the cafe everyday, serving and entertaining guests that are both local and seasonal regulars who return for the intimate village ambience.

The menu at Village Cafe is a diverse mix of breakfast and lunch items, with many specialty dishes including authentic Greek cuisine with a nod to the Kouvatsos' background.

For more In the Kitchen videos, click here. 

Scroll down for an instructional video on how to prepare the dish.

Greek spanakopita

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
3 pounds cooked spinach
1 1/4 pound feta cheese
1 large white onion, chopped
3 bunches scallions, chopped
3 ounces fresh dill, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
2 sheets phyllo dough
1 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon butter
Garlic powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Filling preparation: 
Mix two sticks of butter with onion, scallions, and dill. Saute mixture in pan over medium high heat until onions are translucent. Add cooked spinach to pan and stir. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool for 30 minutes. Once the mixture has cooled, add feta cheese and eggs. Mix well.

Assembly: 
Lay out sheets of phyllo dough and brush with melted butter. Cut sheets in half. Add 3-4 tablespoons of filling to one end of the strip of dough. Fold and flip the dough over the filling a few times to create an enclosed triangle. Brush the end of the strip of dough with melted butter to seal up the triangle and brush butter over the top. Add assembled spanakopita to baking tray and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The spanakopita is finished when the top is golden brown and crispy. Serve while hot.