Vegan Spanakopita. My take on the great Greek spinach and feta pie! Featuring shatteringly crisp phyllo pastry, and a soft, salty, feta-cheesy, spinachy filling, all baked up to golden perfection. Comfort food at it's finest.
PREP TIME: 40 minutesminutes
COOK TIME: 40 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Servings: 8servings
Ingredients
Ingredients
16 oz (454 grams)phyllo pastry, (you will find it in the freezer department with the pie crusts)
16 oz (454grams)fresh spinach
1batch (about 500 g / 18 oz)Vegan Feta Cheese , made as per my recipe but not baked. You can use it as it is straight out of the food processor in this spanakopita recipe, or make it in advance and store it in the fridge for a few days first.
1mediumonionchopped finely
3clovesgarlicminced very finely
1 cup (25 grams)fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoonschopped fresh mint, optional but recommended if you have some
1mediumlemon, zest only
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
¼teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120 mls)olive oil or melted vegan butter, aquafaba can be used instead for oil-free, but oil or butter is highly recommended for crunch, colour and flavour.
INSTRUCTIONS
Defrost the unopened package of phyllo pastry in the refrigerator overnight, or at room temperature for about 4 hours. Do not open it until you are going to assemble the pie.
Heat a large sauté pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil or butter, over a medium low heat and add the spinach. It will be piled ridiculously high, but within a few minutes it will wilt down. Use tongs to move it about and keep it cooking until it is completely wilted down, soft and dark green. it will take about 5 minutes. Remove it from the heat and allow to cool.
Once the spinach is cool, take handfuls and squeeze it out over the sink until as much liquid as you can is removed. Place each handful in a large mixing bowl once you're done.
To the spinach, add the vegan feta cheese, chopped onion, minced garlic, parsley, mint, lemon zest, nutmeg and pepper. Mix it all together really well.
Grease an 8 inch x 12 inch or 9 inch x 13 inch (or similar) oven proof dish with a little of the olive oil or melted vegan butter and preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
Open the phyllo pastry and lay it out flat on the counter. Have a clean, damp dish towel ready to cover it with to stop it drying out and getting brittle. If the sheets are way more than double the size of your dish cut them all in half right down the middle, otherwise just use them as they are. Some overhang is good. Brush the top sheet of phyllo with oil or melted butter and gently lift it and lay it in the centre of the oven proof dish. Keep the remaining sheets covered with the damp cloth. Push the pastry sheet down gently into the dish, letting the excess hang evenly over the sides. Don't worry if some of it falls back down the sides and into the bottom of the dish. Repeat, brushing each sheet with a little oil or butter and laying them on top of each other in the dish until you have used about half of the sheets. If any of them tear, just keep going. It doesn't matter. There will be lots of layers so by the time you are done it will fine.
Spoon the spinach filo mixture on to the pastry layers in the dish and spread it out flat with a spatula then scrunch up the edges of the overhanging pastry and arrange them around the edge of the filling.
Now you need to brush each of the remaining phyllo sheets with oil or butter and take each one and scrunch it up loosely in your hand, then lay it gently on top of the feta spinach filling. Keep going until they are all used, then gently tweak them a bit to cover any big gaps. A few little gaps are fine.
Put the pie in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Open the oven, turn it around (to make sure it bakes evenland bake for a further 15 - 20 minutes or until very golden brown and crispy.
Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before you try to cut it.