Light ‘n’ Layered

Spanakopita , or spinach pie, is one of the most delightful Greek uses of filo dough. Unfortunately, the traditional recipe calls for brushing each sheet of filo with butter. For this low-fat version, we spray them with butter-flavored non-stick cooking spray instead. A little real butter is brushed on the top layer of the pie for flavor, but even that can be eliminated.

The base for the spinach filling is a nonfat “cream” sauce--a light paste of flour and nonfat milk stirred into hot nonfat milk and enriched with egg substitute. Nonfat cottage cheese and crumbled feta, which is lower in fat than most cheeses, give the sauce a nice tang.

It’s assumed you’ll be using store-bought filo rather than making your own, but you’ll get better results if you use fresh filo from a Middle Eastern or Greek market rather than the frozen filo available at supermarkets.

SPANAKOPITA

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup snipped dill weed

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 cups nonfat milk

1 cup nonfat egg substitute (equivalent to 4 eggs)

2 cups nonfat cottage cheese

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

9 sheets filo dough

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Heat oil in skillet. Add onions and dill and saute until tender.

Squeeze excess water from spinach. Add spinach to skillet and saute until hot. Keep warm while preparing cream sauce.

Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl. Add just enough milk to make thin paste, about 3/4 cup. Put remaining milk in saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in flour-and-milk paste. Return to boil and cook, stirring constantly, until just thickened.

Mix small amount of boiling sauce into egg substitute to temper. Add tempered egg substitute to saucepan. Heat and stir until slightly thickened. Stir in cottage and feta cheeses, white pepper and baking powder. Stir in spinach mixture.

Arrange 3 sheets filo dough, each sprayed with butter-flavored non-stick cooking spray, in 13x9-inch baking pan sprayed with butter-flavored non-stick cooking spray. Spoon 1/2 of creamed spinach mixture into pan. Repeat with 3 more sheets sprayed filo and remaining creamed spinach. Trim off excess filo around edges. Arrange 2 sheets filo dough on top spinach layer and spray each with butter-flavored non-stick cooking spray. Top with last sheet filo dough. Tuck all sides into dish. Brush top with butter. Bake at 325 degrees until lightly browned on top, 45 to 60 minutes. Makes 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

173 calories; 674 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams protein; 0.52 gram fiber.