The idea of for this bread comes from the regular spinach and feta (or ricotta) fillo pastry which is a popular vegetarian option in casual café or bakery here in Melbourne. Frankly, I have hardly been impressed by these (except for the thin crust variety in A1 Bakery in Brunswick). I doubt that these roll were made with much care and from fresh ingredients. In fact, they taste like defrosted pastries to me. But the thought of spinach and feta is so lovely that I decide to make my own version.
Since I want something more substantial, I decide to go for bread. The dough recipe is a long-time favorite of mine, which produces lovely soft crumbs. The filling is kind of standard with spinach and feta, but it is made from fresh ingredients! I also add some zesty note by using lemon juice and zest.
And yes, this spinach and feta loaf tastes really good. Being a `pull-apart´ loaf, it is best to shared around. And I do just that! I share around with some friends and they all love it. I guess it doesn´t take much to convert someone into a fresher diet, especially when the results are always tastier.
Method
45gram butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp sugar
1¼ tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
3 cups unbleached plain flour
1 bunch fresh English spinach, leaves picked and washed thoroughly
100g feta cheese, crumbled
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 or 2 squeeze of lemon juice, to taste
Seasoning, to taste
1. Knead together water, butter, sugar, salt, yeast and 3 cups flour until the dough is smooth and soft. Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let it rise until doubled.
2. Filling: blanch the spinach leaves in hot water briefly. Drain and set aside to cool. Roughly chop then mix with the crumble feta cheese. Add in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Check the seasoning and adjust to your liking.
3. Preheat oven to 350F (170C).
4. Gently lift the dough out of the bowl. Divide into 4 portions. Deflate each portion lightly into a rectangular, add the filling and roll up. Cut into two pieces. Repeat with the remaining dough. (You should have 8 halves in total).
5. Arrange the dough, cut side up, into a loaf pan (8 ½ x 4 ½ inch). Proof for another 30-40 mins until the bread rises just above the pan. Bake in the oven until golden and done, about 35-40 mins. 
Oh wow, Anh! What an outstanding bread – thank you so much for bringing it to the Festa!!
I love pull-apart bread, and this sounds delicious. Thanks, Anh!
Oh my goodness, how scrumptious can this be. I can just imagine myself pulling a piece from the whole thing.
Your posts just keep getting better and better!
I can almost smell it :)
This is a nice twist to the phyllo-stuffed pastry. Looks great, Anh.
Lis, thanks for organising yet another amazing event!
I just have to try this; dough filled with spinach and feta is simply irresistible. Beautiful pictures and great looking bread!
what a fantastic looking bread! Soft and pull apart, plus love the spinach and cheese. Mmmmm.
Those rolls look divine! But is tomato paste actually part of the recipe? I don’t see it in the list of ingredients and it seems an unusual addition.
Burcu, yes, spinach and feta are a perfect pair!
The bread looks so delicious-and so easy! It’s nice to see recipes that are easy to prepare, and don’t have a lot of ingredients.
Simply outrageous! I love the fact that one can pull apart the bread. Feta and spinach are two of my fave combos. Bookmarked!
Gorgeous bread for a gorgeous party!
That looks great Anh – you can tell that this is a dish cooked by one of those daring bakers!
Beautiful! Love the fact it’s pull apart bread and love the flavours.
Oh, what a lovely bread! It looks sooo delicious!
Hey Anh,
I know I would just love this. You are such a brilliant baker. Your kitchen must smell heavenly.
this is wonderful bread i ever seen, congrats anh u did the best, really looks very delicous, i wonder how i could baked also 😀
Now that looks wonderful! So colorful and delicious!
Anh, your food and your pictures are so beautiful! My daughter would love this as she adores feta cheese.
Anh, that looks so irresistable. No wonder your friends all loved it. I’m sure that I would have polished that off in no time. I’m definitetly making these. I find the cafe ones too greasy. Thanks for the recipe.
Emilie, I whipped uo this bread after work while preparing dinner. It’s really straightforward and alsmot fool proof!
Wow this looks SO good! Being a vegetarian, I have eaten many of those spinach and feta pastry type things and have gotten kind of sick of them. But I think I might just have to try this bread! And I love pull apart breads like that too. Excellent creation!
I love spinach and feta cheese and can’t wait to try this pull-apart bread!
You’re dead right about the pastries, almost impossible to find a good one, so I’ll just join the queue salivating over your fantastic interpretation.
I will, I will! I always have feta and spinach (frozen) around. But you say that I can get feta at the deli counter, so I’ll grab some next time I’m grocery shopping.
omg anh, your bread looks superb! It beats the bakers delight stuff anyday!
This looks phenomenal, Anh – your breads always amaze me, and this is no exception!
Oh what delicious looking bread! I can almost smell it…sniff, sniff
Love the combination or spinach and feta…and you are right, the dough looks remarkably soft!
Anh
The bread looks gorgeous…absolutely lovely.
This looks so wonderful and very different. Now, I have a long list of I-have-to-do-this from your blog
This looks wonderful!
Oh my goodness, Anh…this bread is fabulous. I absolutely love the spinach…both a pretty and healthy addition to your beautiful bread. Oh, how I wish I could pull a huge piece off right this very minute!
East Meets West Kitchen, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Hme-made spinach & ricotta pastry/bread is really much better than the dull stuff from the usual cafe’.
wow beautiful !!! looks so tempting. You have so many delicious recipes out here.Thanks for coming by, now i will keep frequenting here 😀
Wow! I am falling in love with your blog!..Woderful photography..Amazing collection of recipes..So Classic!!
Looks fantastic Anh! Feta and spinach combo is really tasty!
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow! Your photography is amazing, Anh!
These look so wonderful, I can almost smell them. What great photography – I want to reach right into the computer screen and tear a piece right off! I like the idea of adding citrus to the spinach and feta combo. Great idea.
Really lovely! I’ll have to give this one a try.
your bread looks divine. this is versatile, too. i’d be happy to have some of those as a snack, or for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner.
I got a tub of feta cheese which I am still figuring out what to do with it till now. Hmmm…. going to attempt this once I get some spinach. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, exactly like what I would see in a professional bakery! You are a genius.
just gorgeous. this dough will make a great muffin batter too, me thinks, but the pulling apart makes it more fun.
The pictures tells it all, it must be so good!
Anh, this is absolutely gorgeous, and looks MUCH tastier than the pull-aparts I see at the bakery…mmmm!
Bread is one of my weakness. I will be pulling rolls off of that loaf until there is none left! 😀 I’ll be trying this recipe soon!
Mmm, I can almost smell the freshly baked bread. This is a wonderful recipe.
Oh, goodness!!! That looks delish!!!! Thanks.
Oh wow! This bread looks fantastic – I’m drooling!
Oooh, Anh your bread looks so tasty. My loving husband made spanikopita for me while I was sick from chemotherapy and I can’t stand to eat it again. But I sooooo love spinach and bread and such. Your recipe may be the perfect thing to bring me back around to those flavors. I will let you know if I try it out. Thanks for the inspiration.
Absolutely stunning!
dear Anh, the bread looks so good. I can feel from the pic how good it might be tasting. I was real busy lately so could not visit regularly.
What a wonderful idea! This bread is gorgeous! I bet it tastes as good as it looks!
i’ve never made bread like this – i think i need to try it very soon!
That bread looks heavenly perfect. Wish I could lay my hands on it.
I was browsing through your blog and was fasinated by your amazing pictures! This recipe caught my eye because it was in Notebook Magazine a couple months ago. I have it in my blog as well and love this recipe!
i’m baking this right now…(waiting for the bread to rise) and i’m thinking of adding a bit of smoked salmon. the photos look lovely =)
I could eat this every day! I can't wait to make it! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!