Vegan Spanokopita, or Spinach and “Cheese” Pie

Since we’ve been avoiding dairy at home, I wanted to try to remake some of my old cheesey favourites in a new, vegan-friendly way. Spanokopita, a spinach and cheese pie, has long been one of my staple recipes, and this is my new vegan version.

Alas, since I first started making it, I found out M can’t have tofu, so now I leave that out and add other vegetables.

Ingredients:
1-2 onions, depending on how oniony you like it
2-3 cloves garlic, optional, also depending on taste
2-4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
2 pounds spinach (if fresh, it should be washed carefully, and if frozen, it should be well thawed)
175 g tofu
1 cup vegan “cheese”
½ cup soya yogurt or oat cream
handful of black olives
30 g (or so) pine nuts
black pepper
1 dash salt
1 package filo dough

Instructions:

1. Chop the onion/s. Mince the garlic, if using it. Preheat the oven to 200 C.
2. Gently fry the onions in some of the olive oil until golden, then add the garlic, if using it. Add the sugar so the onions caramelise.
3. Defrost the spinach, if frozen, or steam it, if fresh.
4. Chop the tofu and the cheese and mix it with the soya yogurt.
5. Chop the olives. Mix them with the pine nuts, and the tofu, then add in the spinach and the onions. Mix everything together well.
6. Lightly oil a casserole dish. Line it with four sheets of filo, layered over one another so that the pieces hang over the edges of the dish.
7. Spread out some of the filling on top of the filo.
8. Place another sheet on top, then some more filling. Repeat until the filling is all used up and then cover it with another sheet of dough. Brush it lightly with olive oil and tuck any excess edges in.
9. Bake the spanokopita for 30-50 minutes, checking after about 25 minutes to see how golden and ready it is.
10. Serve and enjoy!