I bet that when you think of Greek food, spanakopita is one the first dishes that springs to mind. Greeks make all sorts of delicious pies, but spanakopita is world famous for a reason – it has flaky and crispy golden pastry with a spinach and feta cheese filling seasoned with nutmeg and herbs. When made with love and care, it is the stuff of dreams.
On Paros, there is one pie shop in particular, run by a charming Giorgios that has become something of a local institution. Its appearance may be unassuming but the pies are out of this world – made with homemade pastry with well balanced filling and always fresh (often made on request while you wait and chat to the owner – that’s the Greek way! 🙂 ). We take all our guests there to make sure they have a quality Greek pie experience before they leave the island. Whilst Giorgios is lovely and very accommodating, I am pretty sure that asking him to make me a vegan pie would blow his mind, as a traditionally made pie contains a prolific amount of butter, some egg to bind the filling mixture and feta cheese. Turning vegan has motivated me to learn how to make vegan spanakopita myself to satisfy my cravings. It really isn’t that hard provided you use a shop-bought pastry as I would not dream of making my own. I’m not Giorgios 😉 and don’t make pies for a living. I made my filling with my vegan ricotta that I posted a while back (recipe here) and even though it isn’t feta it works very well in this recipe – Duncan wolfed these down, one after another, going on about how great the filling was. I recommend making the ricotta for the filling, but if you are short on time, you could also use a very well seasoned crumbled tofu instead (see NOTES). Today’s recipe is for vegan spanakopitakia (or mini pies) but I will be posting a grown up version soon too 😉 . These cute vegan spanakopita triangles make a perfect appetiser, are great for dinner parties and potlucks so I thought the recipe may come in handy in the pre-holiday season. Kalí órexi (enjoy!) to you all! 🙂
** Reduced aquafaba simply means simmered, without a lid on, until excess water evaporates and aquafaba becomes like an egg white. Please cool it down completely before using as an egg wash.
