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I love coming up with recipes to use up kitchen scraps. Often, these things are perfectly edible, but they end up in the compost pile because we don’t know what we can do with them. With a little bit of creativity, however, we can come up with plenty of ways to incorporate them into our meal plans. Beet greens are pretty mild in flavor, as is spinach, and both go with feta cheese, so it immediately hit me that I should make Beet Green Spanakopita Pinwheels. They’re sure to delight any party-goer, and they don’t even have to know how you saved money by preventing kitchen waste!
Skip the Phyllo, go with Puff Pastry Instead!
Phyllo pastry is notoriously difficult to work with. The ultra-thin sheets, while flaky, tear and break when dry. But then they are inseparably glued together when you get them wet. It’s a total pain, and, as it turns out, not at all necessary to making spanakopita.
Make life easy and make spanakopita using puff pastry. It’s not worth it to stress when you’re in the kitchen.
Farmers Market Ingredients and Substitutions
Beet Greens
I have a well documented love for root vegetable tops. They’re such a great way to get more value out of your farmers market purchases. I mean, if you’re going to buy the beets anyway, you might as well take the tops home with you and turn them into their own delicious treats!
Beet greens and stems are really versatile! You should definitely make my Farmers Market Celebration Bread if you’ve got tons of leftover stems. Or you can use them to make a delicious borscht!
Don’t have any beet tops? Substitute with chard or more spinach.
Spinach
I’ve found that the average bunch of beets will yield about 1 cup of chopped beet tops, which isn’t enough filling for these spanakopita pinwheels. So, being the problem solver that I am, I filled out the rest using fresh baby spinach.
Spinach is, of course, the traditional filling in authentic spanakopita. While we aren’t going for traditional here at all, the spinach does add a nice flavor to round out the beet greens.
Feta
Farmers markets aren’t just for produce! When I was living in San Francisco, I loved buying Achadinha cheese and dairy products. They have a feta that is to die for. If you’re in their area, I highly recommend buying it!
If you’ve got a local cheese monger, stop by and say hello! They’ll be able to make recommendations and offer substitutions based on what they happen to have on hand.
Tips and Tricks
Use All-Butter Puff Pastry Dough
My favorite frozen puff pastry is the all-butter puff pastry from Trader Joe’s. Unfortunately, they only carry it around the holiday season (November and December) so I always stock up while I can. Hopefully the three boxes I have left will last me until they bring it back. Fingers crossed!
Of course, if you’re all out, Defour Pastry Kitchens has a version that is available year round at many grocery stores.
Cutting the pinwheels
To make the puff pastry loaf easier to cut into spirals, place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This will firm up the puff pastry dough, and make it easier to cut with a sharp chef’s knife.
Alternatively, you can use unflavored dental floss to cut the spirals. But be sure to use unflavored dental floss, as the minty stuff will leave hints of that flavor on the dough. This trick works to cut all sorts of doughs, by the way.
Serving Suggestions
These little spanakopita pinwheels are a perfect appetizer for Easter brunch or any other springtime party. Serve them alongside deviled eggs and other finger foods for a party spread.
You can also be a party of one and snack on them too. That’s totally acceptable!
What about the leftovers?
Keep your leftover Beet Green Spanakopita Pinwheels in an airtight container at room temperature, or slightly cooler. Don’t keep them in the fridge; they’ll turn soggy and stale at the same time. Plan to eat them within two or three days.
They’re pretty good at room temperature, but if you want to heat them up, use the oven. Microwaves do weird things to flaky pastries.
Beet Green Spanakopita Pinwheels
Beet greens are pretty mild in flavor, as is spinach, and both go with feta cheese, so it immediately hit me that I should make Beet Green Spanakopita Pinwheels.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet all butter puff pastry, thawed
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 cup roughly chopped beet greens, approximately greens from 1 bunch of beets
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup Feta, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Heat avocado oil in a small skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped beet greens and spinach, and cook until fully wilted. Add garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook until the garlic is soft and translucent.
- Drain excess moisture from the beet green and spinach mixture.
- Roll out the puff pastry sheets to get a smooth, even layer, approximately 12 inches by 12 inches.
- Beat the egg to form an egg wash, and spread the egg wash evenly over one side of the puff pastry.
- Spread the beet green and spinach mixture over the puff pastry sheet, leaving one inch on one side clear from any filling. Add the feta cheese on top of the greens.
- Tightly roll the puff pastry to form a log, with the unfilled edge at the outside of the roll. Seal the log together by pinching the unsealed edge to the edge of the log.
- Chill the pastry for 10 minutes in the freezer, then cut into 8 evenly sized pinwheels. Top with the remaining egg wash.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, then arrange the pinwheels in staggered rows.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 99Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 192mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 4g
Calculated nutrition values are not always accurate, but can provide a general idea for planning purposes. Please do not rely on this information as it may not be complete. Recipes that include unusual ingredients, especially scrap ingredients, will have the least accurate information with this calculator.
