Feta Spinach Pizza

The market continues its steady climb. I had 5 showings this week and 1 offers. My reputation precedes me now — the Greek agent who tells the truth about roofs and brings food to open houses. Worse reputations exist.

Mama called at 9 PM to tell me she sold out of baklava. She reported this with the urgency of a woman who considers every piece of information critical and every phone call an opportunity to also critique my cooking from forty miles away.

Mama is 87 and still at the bakery at 4 AM. I do not know how much longer she will do this. I do not ask. You do not ask Voula Papadopoulos about endings. You stand next to her and roll phyllo and trust that the beginning continues as long as the hands are moving.

I made tiropita — cheese pie, feta and ricotta and egg in phyllo, baked until golden. Simpler than spanakopita, rich in its own way. The kitchen smelled like oregano and summer and I thought: this is what survives. Not the money or the stress or the arguments about phyllo. The food survives. The recipes survive. The love baked into every dish survives.

The house was quiet this evening. I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of wine and the remains of dinner and I thought about all the tables I have sat at — Mama's table in Tarpon Springs, the table in the South Tampa house I lost, the table in the apartment where I started over, this table where I have fed my children for years. Every table is a different chapter. The food connects them all.

I made tiropita that night, but when the week settled and I wanted something I could share at a showing — something familiar that would not require me to stand over phyllo at midnight — I turned to this feta spinach pizza instead. It carries the same salty, briny heart as Mama’s cheese pie: the feta asserting itself, the green holding its own, the whole thing baked until the edges go honest and golden. It is not tiropita. But it is made from the same love, and sometimes that is enough.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 18 min | Total Time: 33 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb prepared pizza dough, room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 oz)
1/2 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

Preheat oven. Place a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet on the center rack and preheat oven to 475°F (245°C) for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Wilt the spinach. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add spinach, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper. Toss until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and squeeze out any excess moisture with a clean towel. Set aside.
Prepare the base. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the pizza dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper. Brush the surface with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, leaving a 1-inch border for the crust.
Layer the cheese. Dollop the ricotta evenly across the oiled dough. Scatter the wilted spinach mixture over the ricotta. Top with crumbled feta and shredded mozzarella.
Bake. Slide the pizza (on its parchment) onto the preheated stone or pan. Bake 15—18 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the cheese is bubbling with lightly browned spots.
Finish and serve. Remove from oven. Drizzle with lemon juice and finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Let rest 3 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

Nutrition (per serving)

Feta Spinach Pizza — The Phyllo Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Love