geocentric provability: Spanking Spanakopita - Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes?

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Spanking Spanakopita - Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes?

Sep 08

Spanakopita is a traditional Greek Pie ? both rich and delicious ? stuffed with spinach, onions and ?feta cheeze?, as well as a herb filling, and encased beautifully within a flaky filo pastry ? it makes it a very attractive and decadent dish to serve. ?Once your ingredients are on your kitchen worktop, it?s a relatively easy dish to prepare.

TIP : Serve with a Greek salad.? Or a tomato and onion salad, with a hummus side dish, for a more traditional and authentic Greek experience ? oh, and don?t forget the black olives.

Serves 4 to 6 portions

INGREDIENTS

olive oil for frying

10 oz (285 g) frozen spinach, thawed and drained from its water (squeeze into your palms to do this) ? you may use fresh spinach if you like

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

? cup fresh parsley

1 x 350g (12.35 oz) pack firm tofu, drained

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

juice of ? lemon

1 heaped tsp cornstarch (cornflour)

salt to taste

1? cups vegan cheese of your choice, grated (I use my own homemade)

1 tsp black pepper

? tsp dill

? tsp dried oregano (optional)

? tsp dried mint

pinch of nutmeg

FOR THE PASTRY

around 16-20 vegan Filo sheets (thaw from frozen ? I use Jus-Rol, which is 100% vegan)

3 to 4 Tbsp melted margarine (and a pastry brush for brushing it on the filo sheets)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400?F (200?C), and lightly oil a square baking dish. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat.
Now saut? the onions and garlic, until soft and very lightly browned.
Next, stir in the spinach, and continue to saute for around 3 minutes. ?Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Now place your tofu in a medium sized bowl, and crumble half of it into small pieces (you may use a fork to do this).? Then place the remaining tofu in a food processor, together with the rest of the ingredients (except for the freshly chopped parsley and your grated cheese), and whizz for a few seconds until smooth.? Now pour this mixture in with your crumbled tofu.
Add the spinach mixture in with the tofu, taste for salt and lemon, and add more of either if you want to.
Now carefully fold in your grated cheese, and mix gently with a fork.
Your filling is now ready to set aside.
Next, place a sheet of filo on the base of your oven dish, brush with the melted margarine, and repeat this process with around 5 more sheets. Don?t worry about the overhang of the pastry, as this will be folded in as I describe later on.
Now spoon in your filling, and flatten gently with a spatula or the bottom of a spoon. Add the fresh parsley on top of this mixture, and drizzle with very little olive oil.
Fold the edges of the filo pastry on top of this (it will only cover some of the filling, but don?t worry).
Add the remaining filo pastry sheets on top of the filling, using the same process of brushing each one with margarine once it?s laid on to the topping, and then when you have placed them all, cut the edges with a knife, or simply tuck the remaining filo overhang into itself.
Place in your preheated oven for around 35 minutes or until it?s golden.? Do not overcook it !
Remove, allow to cool for 15 minutes, before cutting into square portions.
Bon App?tit !