Back in 2020, Holly and Guy attended the in-person vegan foundation course and created this fabulous vegan spinach and fetta pie? It is so versatile. You can make it with kale or silverbeet or spinach. You can make it with short crust pastry, gluten-free pastry, or even buy vegan puff or filo pastry.
I love how in this recipe Holly and Guy get the tofu tasting so much like fetta yum!!!
Holly went on in 2023 to do the vegan chef training Mak can you hyper link for her own use and in the training she dreamed up a whole lot of ideas where she could create a business from what she had learned in the training. Holly decided to just enjoy the training and keep on cooking for loved ones, so all those ideas are there in the ether still, waiting for someone to make a business from.
Hope you enjoy this pie recipe. I also use the filling in lasagne and cannelloni.
Spinach and Fetta Pie
Victoria's Pastry
INGREDIENTS
300g wheat or spelt flour
125ml olive oil
1 tsp salt
125 ml tepid water
Ppinch of salt
(or for a gf pastry try this recipe)
Pie filling
INGREDIENTS
2 bunches of greens (could be silverbeet, a combination of Ceylon spinach and kale or collard greens, Swiss chard. If using English spinach, you will probably need 4 bunches as they wilt down to nothing)
1 small red onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
¼ cup salted capers rinsed
¼ cup nutritional yeast
3 tbsp finely chopped dill
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
375 g firm tofu
1 spring onion white and green parts sliced fine
Juice of 1 medium lemon
Olive oil for frying onions
METHOD
1. Make the pastry by placing the flour, oil and salt in a food processor. Process and gradually add the water until the pastry is the right consistency and not too wet. It will usually clump together in a ball. Take the ball, cover it, and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
2. Destalk the greens (you can leave some of the white on the silverbeet or spinach but the rest need destalking). Wilt them in a steamer. Once cooled a little, squeeze out the water and then slice.
3. In a food processor, place the garlic, tofu, nutritional yeast and capers and blitz until it starts to resemble finely crumbed fetta.
4. Cook the spring onions and red onion in some olive oil for a couple of minutes.
5. Mix the onions, greens, herbs and tofu together, seasoning with salt and pepper and adding the lemon juice until you get the desired flavour. It will need to be quite lemony but not overpowering. Place this mixture in a pie or quiche dish.
6. Roll out the pastry on a floured board until it is a few millimetres thick. Place the pastry on top of the pie and then cut the excess off.
7. Cut a little hole in the centre of the pastry to let air out and then brush the pastry with soy or rice milk. Place in a 200°C oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is browned and cooked through.
Note: This pastry is robust, so if you have any gaps, just press down bits of pastry to fill them in. You can make little leaves with the leftover pastry to decorate the pie.
