Popeye Pie

We mothers know how difficult it is to make our little ones have some veggies. When Aishwarya was small, Popeye was a big help in getting some greens into her mouth. She used to love that program so much that she used to eat spinach with no complaints. And thanks to that, she still continues to love spinach in whatever form. So when I came across this recipe  with her childhood hero's name, and with spinach as the main ingredient, I never had a second thought in trying this out. And guess what, this turned out to be quite a hit.

Ingredients:
20 oz. spinach, chopped (I used frozen)
2 tbs. olive oil, divided
1 tbs. butter, melted
1 large onions (about 3 cups), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
4oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2eggs, lightly beaten
4 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 lb. phyllo pastry sheets, thawed
Method:
Saute onions in 2 tbsp.olive oil until lightly golden. Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes. If using frozen spinach, squeeze as much moisture out of thawed spinach as possible and then separate the clumps. Stir in spinach and all herbs and spices into the onions and cook out all remaining moisture. Remove the spinach mixture from the heat and taste it. It should taste spicy but the salt should be on the lower side as the feta cheese will add additional saltiness.
Once the mixture cools slightly, stir in the eggs and cheeses. Line one 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and  combine remaining oil and butter. Lightly brush the bottom of  the foil-lined pan with fat mixture. Cut the phyllo sheets to fit your pan and layer 1/2 of the sheets into the pan, brushing every 3rd layer with the oil/butter mix.  Put the spinach mixture and  press firmly into a solid layer. Top with remaining phyllo sheets, again brushing every 3rd layer with butter and oil.  Place pan in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove pie from freezer and (cut only through the top layer of phyllo, dividing the pan into 6 sections). I forgot this step when baking this but, this will make it easier to make clean cuts later.
Bake the  pie at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until top layer of phyllo is browned.
If you want you can freeze the pie  and  bake without thawing at 350 for 60-90 minutes.