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“Spanikomatzah” — a variation of the Greek spinach and feta pie made with matzah rather than the traditional phyllo dough — won the top prize in J.’s first-ever “Matzah Madness” contest. The winning chef is Amy Siegel of Clifton, N.J.
We asked people to send us their most creative, tasty recipes for using leftover matzah during Passover. Spanikomatzah uses fresh dill and generous amounts of dried oregano and thyme in the filling, taking the combination of spinach, feta, yogurt and sautéed onion from good to delicious.
The savory pie bested two runners-up: an unbaked multilayer matzah cake with the sheets of matzah nestled between whipped cream or nondairy whipped topping, chocolate and sour cherry preserves; and apple slices surrounded by baked matzah and covered in caramel. Recipes for both appear in Faith Kramer’s column.
Siegel said Spanikomatzah was inspired by her mother, whom she remembers making the classic Greek pie with phyllo dough. She believes her mother got her recipe from an old Hadassah cookbook, and it was one of Amy’s favorites when she was young.
As it turns out, Siegel has quite a long history of not only entering recipe contests, but winning them.
She is a previous winner of the Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off in 2009, in which she took home the $25,000 grand prize and several kitchen appliances for her turkey meatball sliders that used Manischewitz falafel mix.
The 50-something Siegel is Orthodox and a mother of four. Her interest in cooking started young, she said.
“My mother wasn’t big on takeout, so that encouraged me to cook,” she said.
Siegel said her cooking style is largely influenced by Mediterranean cuisine. Many home chefs have limited spice palates, she said, and rely on paprika, garlic powder and onion powder in many of their rotations.
“Using just those is so limited,” she said. “It’s worthwhile to step outside your comfort zone.”
Siegel also uses fresh herbs whenever she can, and enjoys adapting international recipes into kosher versions so her family can try them.
For years, Siegel blogged about cooking and recipes at the Gluten Free Maven (one of her children has celiac disease) and contributed recipes to Jamie Geller’s website; Geller is a popular food personality in the kosher world.
Siegel entered her first cooking contest when she was 16. She didn’t win, but it didn’t dissuade her from trying again.
She believes the first contest she won was sponsored by Kraft Foods. Her winning entry was a cake using eggnog, Jell-O and Cool Whip. She happens to love the flavor of eggnog, she said, and it’s easy to find it with kosher supervision. She thinks she won $25,000, and that the prize money went into the down payment for the family’s home.
She estimates that she’s won around a half-dozen recipe contests over the decades. Years ago, she said, there were many more recipe contests available, with large cash prizes. They don’t exist so much anymore, she said, with companies more often spending their marketing budget on collaborations with influencers. (Case in point: Check out our own Micah Siva’s collaboration with Manischewitz on Instagram).
Siegel found out about “Matzah Madness” in a Facebook group of recipe contest enthusiasts, who share news with each other. One of our runner-ups found out about it that way, too. Little did we at J. know that such groups exist, and that all three winning recipes would be created by East Coast residents with no direct connection to J. You live, you learn.
Siegel, for example, belongs to a Facebook group for former finalists of the Pillsbury Bakeoff. “It’s friendly-competitive,” she said, with members of the community keeping each other informed about contests to enter.
Now we know, too.
Amy Siegel’s Spanikomatzah
- 4 sheets matzah
- 1 Tbs. olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped Bermuda onion
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 oz. bag baby spinach leaves, washed and patted dry
- 2 Tbs. fresh dill, chopped (or 1 Tbs. dried)
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 8 oz. feta cheese, mashed with a fork
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 Tbs. parsley, chopped
- Prepared tzatziki to garnish, if desired
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a nonstick cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Line a second cookie sheet with paper towels and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt. Turn heat to low and sauté until softened and translucent.
Add spinach and continue to sauté just until spinach wilts. Add pepper, dill, oregano and thyme. Stir to combine.
Remove frying pan from heat and stir in feta cheese and yogurt until well combined. Set aside.
Fill a baking pan that’s larger than the matzah halfway with warm water. Working with one matzah at a time, gently place matzah in warm water. Let sit for 1-2 minutes until soft and pliable. Gently remove matzah from water (with a spatula or hands) and place on towel-lined cookie sheet. Blot dry. Carefully transfer matzahs to greased cookie sheet. (I find it helps to flip them off the first sheet onto the second by lifting the entire cookie sheet.)
Brush edges, about an inch around, with beaten egg.
Place ¼ of spinach mixture on matzah. Imagine the matzah is divided into two even triangles, and center the spinach mixture on one triangle. With a spatula, gently fold over the other half of the matzah. Press edges closed with spatula.
Brush the top of matzah with remaining egg. Sprinkle with parsley. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Serve warm with prepared tzatziki on the side, if desired.
Note: For smaller-size Spanikomatzahs, cut each matzah in half after soaking. Follow directions as above, folding rectangles over to form a square.