Vegan Spanakopita, taste those Greek flavours at home
I love making and eating this vegan spanakopita. It really brings those Greek flavours onto your palate.
feta substitute
So, originally a Spanakopita is made with Greek feta cheese. In this recipe I use cashews to create a creamy, salty and tangy mixture to substitute for the feta.
While blending the cashew mixture it is of importance to get the texture just right. So, don’t start blending while doing other things, because the consistency should give some creaminess, but it should not be blended into a fully creamy sauce. Feta traditionally is slightly crumbly, salty and tangy, so that is what we want to re-create. The crumbly texture is achieved by blending shortly so the cashews are blended but still a bit coarse.
With the right amount of salt, white vinegar, and lemon juice we can get very close to add that tangy flavour to the spanakopita.
Spinach and dill
In my opinion the dill is a must in a spanakopita and cannot be left out. It is the combination of spinach and dill that will bring you right to the Greek islands in the Mediterranean.
Pastry for Spanakopita
The most commonly used pastry for this delicious Greek pie, is Filo pastry (Phylo pastry). As I myself live in France, and Filo pastry is very hard to find, I used brick pastry instead. Which works fine, even though I would have preferred to use filo. On top of that, the only brick pastry I can find locally is round shaped. But heehoo, … as you can see in the video, where there is a will, there is a way 🙂 Maybe next time I should try making my own pastry. I will keep you posted on that one!
How to enjoy your vegan spanakopita
Personally I like to enjoy this Greek pie as a mezze. Which I share with friends or family. Some ideas and recipes suggestions to the mezze could be;
But of course you can make this pie to enjoy as a starter, or as a side dish with Greek style salads or vegetables. The mediterranean roasted vegetables or the roasted aubergine dishes would pair well with this!
In this recipe I have coiled the spanakopita but depending on how you would like to use it, you can make the more traditional square shaped pie, or the little triangle folds.
What to drink with spanakopita?
This pretty much depends what you serve with the spanakopita. If I just look at the flavours of this Greek pie, I would suggest a white wine, a Sauvignon blanc with a bit of tartness. A Sancerre would match beautiful. Or a Southern French variety, called Picpoul would match these flavours well. But if you serve this dish as a mezze, or as a side dish you might want to opt for a light fruity red, like a young Beaujolais, or even a fresh cold beer.
This recipe was inspired by a ‘veggies dont bite’ recipe. Let me know if you make this vegan spanakopita. I always love to see new creations. Add @haricoco1 to your insta post or comment down below.
This recipe is for a small spanakopita (approx. 3 people).
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Ingredients
- 250 g (7 cups) fresh spinach, roughly chopped washed and drained
- 4 spring onions, chopped
- 3 g (1/4 cup) dill, chopped
- 15 g (1/4 cup) parsley, chopped
- salt
- pepper
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 6 sheets of filo pastry (or brick pastry)
- 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp water
- 75 g (1/2 cup) raw cashews, soaked, rinsed and drained
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 175C / 350F
- Heat a little olive oil in a pan on medium heat, and sauté the chopped spring onions (approx. 2min.)
- Add the spinach and sauté for another 3 – 4 minutes
- Lastly add the herbs, salt and pepper, and set the mixture aside.
- For the vegan feta; Add the soaked, rinsed and drained cashews to a food processor, and give it a quick whizz.
- Add some vinegar, lemon, water and salt to the cashew mixture and whizz again until it is well mixed but not yet smooth. As we want to mimic a feta texture, a little coarseness is okay.
- Taste the cashew mixture, which should be creamy and tart. Add more vinegar or lemon if necessary.
- Combine the spinach mixture and the cashew mixture by hand.
- Lay out the filo pastry, two sheets on top of each other, and three next to each other, while overlapping a few centimetre. Make sure to brush every sheet with olive oil.
- Layer a long sausage shape of spinach / cashew mixture on top of the sheets a few centimetre above the lower end. Keep the end on at least one side empty (2 or 3 cm.)
- Start rolling the sheets into a sausage with the spinach & cashew as filling. Making sure to brush the filo sheets with olive oil while rolling.
- Do the same with the other 6 filo sheets.
- Now you have two long rolls of filo pastry, Start coiling the first roll, carefully tuck in the second roll into the first roll and continue the coil. If you leave a little space empty of your roll then this should be reasonable easy to do.
- Layer the coil on an oiled baking tray, brush the last of the olive oil on top of the coil, and bake the pastry for approx. 50 minutes in the pre-heated oven.
- After 40 minutes you might want to turn over the coil (if possible) in order to have the pastry browned on all sides. This is not necessary if turning over might cause your coil to collapse.
- Let the Spanakopita cool down for minimum 15 minutes before cutting.
This spanakopita is part of; ‘Travels of taste‘. Travel the world with our senses and imaginations. If you are ready to imagine yourself travelling around the Mediterranean while sensing its salty air & indulging in its incredible variety of fresh produce. Check out my full Mediterranean ‘travels of taste’ post; >>> The Med; Olive oil, herbs & fresh produce.
This amazing recipe is also shared on Glorious garden vegetable recipes
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