A crispy filo Vegan Spanakopita pie using purslane in place of spinach

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• It’s egg free
• Dairy free
• The pastry is crispy and flaky with a healthy wholesome filling

Spanakopita is traditionally a Greek savoury pie consisting of spinach and feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry.

While purslane is on the rise as a superfood in the Western world, this so-called weed is actually a culinary delight across the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Purslane, known as bakleh in Arabic, is widely used in pastry and salad dishes.

For this vegan spanakopita, the traditional use of spinach has been swapped with purslane. However, if you do not have access to purslane, just use spinach. It will be equally delicious.

For even baking, I used the Chasseur 28cm Frypan which is oven safe. This cast iron skillet is a delight to work with. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing but functionally, it works fabulously with even heating.

The spanakopita baked perfectly. It was golden, flaky and crispy.

Ingredient Notes:

• Filo pastry - also known as phyllo pastry, can easily be found in your supermarket's freezer section. However Woolworths has been stocking it in the fridge section so there is no need to wait for it to thaw out. This is what I used.
• Purslane - when in season can be found at a local grocer or in your lawn! If you can’t access purslane, replace with spinach. Double the amount of spinach.
• Cashews - must be raw and soaked. This will help the cashews bloat with water and crumble better into smaller soft pieces. The cashews in this recipe combined with the nutritional yeast replace the feta cheese which is usually used.
• Nutritional yeast - is the answer to a nutty cheese flavour without using cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 pack Filo Pastry (375g) thawed
• 600g roughly chopped Purslane
• 600ml Water
• 200g Raw cashew - pre-soaked and chopped small.
• 340g chopped Brown Onion
• 10g minced Garlic
• 20ml Fresh Lemon Juice
• 5g chopped Fresh Mint
• 10g chopped Fresh Parsley
• 7g Nutritional Yeast
• 1tbs Salt
• 1tsp Pepper
• Sprinkle of Sesame Seeds
• Olive oil for brushing pan and pastry

Step by Step Guide

Serves: 6 | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Here’s how to make vegan spanakopita;

Step 1 Soak raw cashews in a bowl of water for at least 3 hours, then drain and chop into small soft pieces using a food processor.

Step 2 In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except for the filo pastry.

Step 3 Lay 5 sheets of filo pastry onto a flat surface and brush with olive oil. Along the longer edge, place filling in a line about 4cm thick, leaving a 2cm perimeter. Roll the filo pastry into a cylinder, squeeze ends shut and brush oil onto the seams. Roll into a spiral shape. Repeat 4 times to make 4 spirals.

Step 4 Place each spiral snuggly next to each other into the Chasseur fry pan. Fill any gaps with extra filo sheets by loosely scrunching them up. Brush all pastry with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Step 5 Bake in a preheated oven 180C (356F) for 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

What to serve with?

Pair this vegan spanakopita with a vegan Greek salad or a simple garden salad. Or cut it up into smaller pieces if you are serving this as part of an assortment of food.

Pro Tips

• Double the amount of water to be used to soak the cashews as they will bloat.
• Working with filo pastry - roll out the pastry sheets flat and always keep any filo pastry covered in slightly dampened tea towels whilst you are working with it. As filo pastry is very thin it will dry out quickly and crack.
• Leaving a 2cm perimeter helps with sticking the pastry together and keeping the filling intact.
• For a more prominent flavour boost, add more parsley and mint.
• If you are replacing the purslane with fresh spinach, sauté it with the onion and garlic first and squeeze out all liquid to avoid a soggy spanakopita. If you are using frozen spinach, once it’s combined with all other ingredients, squeeze out all liquid.

Variations

• Change the flavour profile by adding dill and nutmeg
• Rather than making spirals, lay the filo pastry flat in a baking tray and layer the filling in between a top layer of filo pastry. Use 20 sheets on the bottom and 20 on the top.
• Turn this vegan spanakopita into triangles.
• Swiss chard is a great ‘greens’ variant in spanakopita.

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