Zeljanica ( pronounced zel-yawn-ee-suh), which Kemal translates to spinach pita in English, is one of our favorite meals. If you’ve never tried Balkan cuisine and you love spinach like we do, you really have to try making this. The spinach and cheese filling has such a beautiful taste, and then when it’s surrounded by the flaky filo pastry, it’s just heavenly!
Spinach pita doesn’t take long to prepare and it’s easy to make if you “cheat” like we do and buy the filo dough already prepared. You can find it in the frozen section at the supermarket.
Spinach Pita (Zeljanica)
Ingredients:
- 14-16 oz. baby spinach leaves
- 8 oz. goat cheese
- 4-5 large eggs
- 10 oz. feta cheese
- 1 pkg. filo dough
- 5-6 tbsp. olive oil (you can substitute butter if you prefer)
- black pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 cup yogurt
Instructions:
- Remove the filo dough from the freezer several hours before you’re ready to cook. Leave it on your counter top for about 30 minutes and then put it in the refrigerator to thaw out slowly.
- When you’re ready to cook, grease your baking pan with olive oil. (I used a 12 inch by 17 inch pan)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash and drain the spinach, letting it dry out good.
- Beat the eggs.
- Mix the spinach, eggs, goat and feta cheese, 4 tbsp. olive oil, pepper, and yogurt (if you want to add some to the filling) together.
- Remove the thawed out filo dough from the refrigerator, and after you unwrap it, roll it out on your counter top.
- Now that you have your filo dough rolled out on the counter, brush the top sheet generously with olive oil or butter.
- Now you’re going to take a handful of the spinach filling and sprinkle it down the middle of the filo. (Don’t put the filling right on the edges; leave about an inch on each side empty.) How much you want to put on your filo sheet is up to you, but in general, it’s better if you don’t over-stuff it, so if you just use a handful, that should be fine.
- Then you take the individual filo sheet and fold it in half; then you roll it into a snake shape if you like. If you prefer, you can just leave it rolled without the snake shape. Click here to see a 1-minute video that will show you how to stuff and roll your pita. The pita that’s being made in the video is meat pita (burek). She made her dough from scratch…something I still haven’t tried yet. Anyway, you stuff and roll the spinach pita by using the same technique shown in the video. You can see how easy it is.
- Now, place the stuffed and rolled pita into the greased baking pan.
- Repeat the process by sprinkling the spinach filling on the remaining filo dough sheet and then roll them like you did the first one.
- When you’ve finished, brush the tops of all the filo dough with olive oil or melted butter.
- Bake covered for about 30 minutes.
- Then uncover and cook until the filo pastry is golden brown.
- When the pita is golden brown, remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Then cut the pita and enjoy either warm or cold. You can also enjoy the pita as is or dip it in yogurt.
Note: An alternative way to make the pita is to layer it like a lasagna by placing about 3 filo dough sheets on the bottom of the oiled pan. Then spread some filling on top of the dough. Then repeat the processing by placing 3 more filo dough sheets on top of the filling. Oil the top of the dough and then spread more filling on top of the oiled filo sheet. Repeat the process until you’re done and then brush the top layer of filo dough with butter. However you prefer to assemble the pita is up to you. 
If you do decide to layer it like a lasagna, then cut the spinach pita before you put it in the oven.
