My favorite item at a Greek restaurant is the spinach pie! Generally made with ricotta and parmesan cheese or cream cheese and feta, I replaced the cheese with beans! The beans lower the calories and provide protein. Lemon and mustard give the filling a little zing.
It is certainly an impressive looking entreé and goes well with hummus and a nice Greek salad.
Like vegetables in pastry? Try my Savory Vegetable turnovers as well. Delicious!
Spanakopida (Spinach pie)
One of my favorite things at a Greek restaurant is the spinach pie called "Spanakopita". It is traditionally make with phyllo dough and has a cream cheese and feta cheese filling. It is generally fried as well so it is not something we can order anymore. I decided to make a vegan version and we love it!
Print Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie sheet with rack
- Convection oven or air fryer
Ingredients
- 6 Cups Fresh spinach
- 1 Cup Canned white beans
- 1 Tbsp Chopped onion
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Preserved lemon
- 1 Tsp Mince garlic
- 1 Tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 Tsp Red pepper flakes
- 1 Tsp Herb De Province Substitute Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano
- 1/2 Tsp Himalayan salt
- 1/2 Tsp Black pepper
- 1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
- 1 Pastry sheet
- 3 Tbsp Flour To flour the bread board
Instructions
- Clean the spinach, remove stems and place in a bowl of water to wash them. Let them soak.
- Preheat oven to 350 ° F.
- Take pastry sheet out of refrigerator. It will need 30 minutes out of the freezer and about 10 out of the refrigerator if it is thawed.
- Open your can of white beans and reserve the liquid. Measure off about a cup and add to a mixing bowl.
- Mash the beans with a fork. They don't have to be mushy - they can have some texture.
- Slice off about 1/4 of a sweet or red onion and finely dice it. About 1 Tbsp.
- Add seasonings to the beans.
- Wash the excess salt from the preserved lemons and shop them into a small dice. Add to the beans.
- Drain and spin the spinach. Dry well with a tea towel then chop the spinach into 1/4" strips. Chop again crosswise. Add to the beans.
- Stir the beans and spinach to incorporate the ingredients.
- Flour your bread board and roll out to square up the pastry. You want four 6-7" squares. Cut the pastry into four equal squares.
- Turn over each piece of pastry to have the flour side up. Place 1/4 of the spinach and bean mixture in the middle of the pastry. Fold the pastry over into triangles, tucking in the ends slightly. Pinch with your fingers to secure the seams or use a fork to press the seams closed.
- Place pies on a cookie sheet with an oven rack. have at least an inch between them.
- Whip your aqua faba (bean juice) until frothy. Brush lightly on the pies. Place in the over for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, flip the pies over and brush them with aqua faba. Place back into the oven for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve pies with vegan tzatsiki or hummus.
Notes
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe.
You can use frozen chopped spinach here to same time. Just make certain it is rinsed and completely dried to avoid a soggy pie.
You can use no-cheese instead of the beans if you prefer. Garbanzo beans work well with this. If using a nut based cheese, walnuts would be an excellent choice.
Find my recipe for preserved lemons and have some on hand. If you do not have any, you can simmer a few slices of lemon in some salt for a few minutes then rinse and chop them.
I generally serve this with a simple slaw of red cabbage, diced preserved lemon and parsley.
