Yummy Spinach and Herb Pie

I love to cook, and get my inspiration from lot's of different books and blogs. However, when I switched to a plant based diet I was really sad that all of my books were no longer useful! Anyways, I decided to hold on to them (because they looked pretty on my shelf) and I'm now determined to cook my way through them adapting everything I can to be plant based and gluten-free. 

Today's challenge was a Herbed Pie inspired by Ottolenghi. 

It was pretty straight forward; however, it did take some extra time as I needed to make all the different cheeses it called for! However, if you have these vegan cheeses already it's a quick and easy dinner. If you're in a rush and don't have vegan ricotta, cheddar, and feta on hand, I would recommend making those today and the pie tomorrow. If not, it will take an additional 30 minutes to make them. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the end result, and it reminded me of spanakopita. If you're extremely hungry I would recommend paring this dish with some roasted vegetables on the side, or maybe even some roasted potoatoes. 

Meal: Dinner entrée
Cuisine: Mediterranean, Gluten-Free, Plant-based, Vegan
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Servings: 3-4 

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 500g Swiss chard, stems and leaves thinly shredded but kept separate
• 150g spinach
• 50g spring onion, chopped (about 3 spring onions)
• 50g rocket (arugula)
• 30g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 30g mint, chopped
• 20g dill, chopped 
• 120g vegan ricotta, crumbled
• 100g vegan cheddar, diced
• 60g vegan feta, crumbled 
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 60mL egg replacement (you can use water and 2 Tablespoons of milled flaxseed)
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon agave
• 250g Free-from filo pastry (I use store bought) 

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
2. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large frying pan and heat with a medium heat. 
3. Add the onion and saute for for 8 minutes (or until translucent). 
4. Add the chard leaves and stems and spinach and continue to cook for 4 minutes until the leaves wilt, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the spring onion, rocket, and herbs and cook for another 2 minutes. 
6. Remove from the heat, let cool and strain out any excess liquid. 
7. In a large mixing bowl, add the mixture and the 3 cheeses, lemon zest, egg replacer, salt, pepper, and sugar, mix well. 
8. Using an 8x8 dish, line the bottom with a sheet of filo. Brush the filo with olive oil and add another layer. You want to make sure you have filo hanging over the edge of your dish so you can cover your mixture. Continue to do this until you have 5 layers. 
9. Add the mixture to the dish, and wrap the excess filo over top of the mixture. 
10. Add an additional 5 layers of filo, generously brushing each layer with olive oil, and tucking the excess filo down the sides of the dish.
11. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. 
12. Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature. 

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think in the comments below.