Spinach and cheese cigars

I bought phyllo dough the other day, for a simple recipe or two I wanted to try. (Bananas in phyllo dough surrounded by nutella and baked? The manfriend was in heaven.) But, of course, the recipes didn't call for the entire package.

This was inspired by spanikopita, a Greek dish involving similar ingredients baked inside phyllo dough.  But I'm not all fancy schmancy to try to make the triangle packets.  Without further ado, Spinach and Cheese Cigars.

Ingredients:

4-5 sheets phyllo dough
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves sliced garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
6 oz fresh spinach
2 green onions
2-3 large shallots
3 oz feta cheese
2 oz goat cheese
2 egg whites
1 oz hard cooked salami
Olive oil for brushing

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium sized pan, saute garlic in olive oil until golden brown in color. Remove most of the garlic, but leave oil. Add spinach to pan and cook until wilted, 1-3 minutes. (If need be, wilt spinach in two halves.) Remove spinach from pan and place in a bowl to cool.

Slice shallots and green onion and place in pan over medium heat. Saute. Add to the wilted spinach. Mix in the parsley. Cut the salami into bite sized sections and combine with veggies. Let cool while you prepare cheese.

Beat egg whites, feta, and goat cheese together until mixture is creamy. Toss in cooled vegetables and stir to combine.

Lay one piece of phyllo dough onto a large cutting board. Cover the remaining dough with plastic wrap and then place a damp towel on top to prevent phyllo from drying. Lightly brush phyllo dough with olive oil. Cut the dough in half to create two even sections. Using one of the pieces, spoon mixture into a line at the end of the phyllo. Wrap phyllo around mixture into a cigar shape and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of phyllo. Continue the process with the rest of the dough until the mixture is gone.

Lightly brush finished cigars with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy.

It's tasty, I promise! I went back for seconds, and the manfriend for thirds.  I also forgot to brush the cigars with olive oil before baking, which is why mine are so white in the pictures.