So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 78, Spanakopita and Pane Italiano
When you don't have the delicate phyllo dough in the freezer, does that stop you from enjoying the wonderful Spanakopita (spinach pies)? It did, for a long while. I love spinach, tofu and walnuts. With all these three ingredients in a pie, I would "kill" all the vegetables in the world to make one. However, I don't have phyllo dough. If I had some, I might still feel a little intimidated. Anyhow, the Spanakopita recipe in Vegan with A Vengeance (pages 91-93) has been calling out to me. So, one day, I saw Carla of "But did they EAT it?" made a Mexican-flavored pie out of this recipe, it suddenly occurred to me that I could do the same thing, make a spanakopita pie. Luckily, I have been really enjoying making and eating my own pastry crust from Veganomicon (page 262). "Just make two crusts at one time then," I thought. That's how it all started.
Spanakopita Pie (based on Spanakopita, VwaV, pages 91-93)
(serves 4-5)
(serves 4-5)
2 recipes of Single Pastry Crust (Veganomicon, page 262)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 bunches fresh spinach, rinsed very well, long stems removed
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. dried dill
2 pounds extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. dried oregano
Dash of freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup finely ground walnuts
1 tsp. salt
Several dashes fresh ground black pepper
1. First prepare your two pastry crusts, because you will need to refrigerate the crusts in plastic wrap for at least an hour before using them. Keeping all the ingredients of the crusts and the crusts cold is key to have flaky crusts later.
2. Preheat your oven to 350F.
3. In a large heavy-bottomed pot warm 2 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium-low heat for a minute, then add onions and garlic to sauté for 2 minutes. Add spinach in batches and cook until completely wilted and some liquid has been released. Make sure that the spinach doesn't get too overcooked. Quickly stir in dill and remove from heat. Set aside.
4. Prebake your bottom crust (at least after an hour of refrigerating) in the oven, covered, for 15 minutes. Set aside.
5. Pat the tofu dry after a couple hours of pressing. Crumble the tofu to a smooth consistency with your hands in a large mixing bowl. Don't use your fork because we want to keep the grainy quality. When the spinach mixture is cool enough to handle by hand, squeeze as much liquid out as humanly possible and add to the tofu in batches. Mix in very well. Add ground walnuts, lemon juice, oregano, nutmeg, and finally salt and pepper to taste. Taste your pie filling to adjust the seasoning. It should taste pleasantly salty and a little tangy.
6. Pour the filling onto the bottom crust. Even out the top. I filled my pie to the rim as much as possible, because I really love all the ingredients. Put the top crust on. Tuck, seal, trim, and do whatever you need to do feel good about it.
7. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Let cool a little before serving, unless you are too eager.
We thoroughly enjoyed this pie, our favorite pie so far. I did a lot of kneading yesterday, besides this pie, but obviously it was worth all the effort. I would gladly do it all over again. My first Italian crusty bread came out just fine, 50% whole wheat (unbelievable!), after 7-8 hours of work and anxious waiting. The Italians really know how to make a heavenly bread, with no sugar and no oil. I gotta hand it to them. I simply followed Bryanna's recipe in Nonna's Italian Kitchen: Delicious Home-Style Vegan Cuisine.
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