Golden, crispy, flaky layers for days filled with savory, refreshing, aromatic herbs, spinach, and tangy tofu "feta", these spanakopita triangles are the best vegan version ever and honestly as good as any spanakopita I've had before!
Spanakopita is a traditional Greek dish made with phyllo pastry and spinach filling. It's basically a savory spinach pie that's typically served as a snack or appetizer. The filling is usually a mixture of spinach, feta cheese, onions, eggs, and various herbs and spices, but it's easily veganizable.
The phyllo pastry is magical on its own. They are so delicately thin, even thinner than paper and semi-transparent. It's widely used in many types of Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine like baklava, borek, and of course spanakopita. Some phyllo pastries are made with butter but you can find authentic phyllo pastries that are made with only olive oil, my favorite brand for this is Athens.
The filling is very adaptable too! The vegan spanakopita I can find at restaurants are usually only filled with greens and herbs but I wanted to include protein in them and also the tanginess that traditionally comes from the feta cheese. So I made tofu "feta"! You can adjust the amount and types of herbs to your own liking as well.
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound fresh baby spinach
1 sweet onion
4-5 green onion
4 garlic clove
1 tablespoon chopped dill
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
Olive oil for cooking
Pinch of salt
Phyllo pastry, thawed
For the Tofu Feta -
12 oz extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon miso paste
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup warm water
TO MAKE:
- Make sure your phyllo pastry is thawed, they can be thawed overnight in the fridge;
- Make the tofu feta first. Cut the tofu into cubes, and in a air tight container, mix together all the marinade ingredients;
- Add tofu to the marinade, close the lid and gently shake to coat all cubes, let them marinate for at least 1 hour;
- Finely chop the onion and green onion, mince the garlic;
- In a large saute pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil, saute the onions for 2 minutes, then add green onions and garlic and cook for another minute or two;
- Add in all the baby spinach, carefully stir and let them wilt, if your pan is not big enough, then wilt them in batches;
- Cover the pan with the lid and let the steam wilt the spinach over leat heat;
- When the spinach is all wilted (but not mushy!) add in the dill and parsley, stir to mix in, transfer the filling into a bowl and let it cool down;
- Use a cheese cloth or cheese bag to wring out as much liquid as you can from the spinach mixture;
- When the tofu is ready, crumble the cubes into the spinach mixture, stir to combine well;
- Preheat the oven to 375°F;
- Carefully take one piece of phyllo pastry, phyllo pastry is very delicate so handle with care;
- Cover the rest of the phyllo so they don't dry out;
- Brush on a thin layer of olive oil, add a few tablespoons of fillings onto the bottom corner, fold diagonally to form a triangle;
- Brush on a bit of olive oil, and fold again, repeat folding the triangles and brushing on olive oil between folds, until you reach the end of the pastry;
- Repeat the process until you use up all the fillings, transfer onto a lined baking sheet, brush on more olive oil on the top of each triangle pocket;
- Bake for 20 minutes;
- Enjoy hot or cold!
