Spinach, Mushroom & Feta Pie.
You can easily make this vegan by switching the feta for a vegan alternative, or omitting it completely - its still absolutely delicious. Swiss chard, cabbage, spring greens etc all work really well in this too. You could mix it up and use 50/50 spinach & chard, for example, which adds a lovely texture and a slight bitterness which I personally like.
I recommend using a slightly bigger tin/dish than the one pictured here as this 22cm one did leave some leftover filling. 25cm+ is ideal. You’ll likely have some offcuts from the pastry sheets too though, so if this happens then you could make a couple of mini pies and pop them in the freezer for a rainy day.
There’s not much more to say about this one apart from it’s utterly delicious and Matt and I have eaten a whole pie in 1 sitting…
Ingredients.
For the creamy sauce
1 small head of cauliflower, about 500g, use the stalk & leaves too if you like
1/2 cup soaked cashews, whole, unsalted variety
1 tbsp nutritional yeast, or a handful of grated parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dijon mustard, or 1/4 tsp english mustard powder
A pinch of black pepper
For the rest
Oil, for frying
1 onion, finely chopped
400g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced/finely chopped
Around 400g spinach, roughly chopped.
150g feta cheese, go for the aged stuff as it’s stronger in flavour when cooked
2 sheets of puff pastry, ready-rolled store-bought variety
Melted butter, or beaten egg, to brush the top
Equipment.
25cm pie dish/cake dish/anything that can go in the oven that you could reasonably put a pie in…
A jar blender, or a high speed stick blender
1 large pan with a lid
A pastry brush
Chopping board and a sharp knife
Method.
Start by soaking your cashews. The longer the better here - ideally around 2 hours for a nice creamy sauce. However if you’re short on time then 15mins (min) will be ok if you use hot water fresh from the kettle.
Pre-heat your oven to 190c
Break the cauliflower head down roughly into florets and boil rapidly in a large pan of water for around 7-8 minutes, or until even the cauliflower stems are soft
Drain the cooked cauliflower and transfer to a blender along with the remainder of the ‘creamy sauce’ ingredients.
Blend on high until super smooth.
Heat the oil in a large pan and sweat down the onion for around 5 mins.
Get the pan nice and hot and throw in the mushrooms. Cook until they’re golden and all the moisture has come out.
Add the garlic and the spinach. You may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Keep alternating between stirring and putting the lid on. If you’re including any chard, cabbage or other thicker leafy greens then cook these first as they take slightly longer than spinach.
When the spinach/greens have all wilted and most of the water has evaporated out, add the creamy mixture to the pan and set this all aside to cool.
Lay the first sheet of pastry over the base of your dish and gently push it into the edges. Cut off any excess.
Pour in the cooled pie mixture and crumble over the feta cheese. It’s important the mixture is cool before you do this step, as it will affect the pastry if not.
Lay the other sheet of pastry over the top, crimp the edges and cut off any excess pastry.
Make 2 holes in the top for the steam to escape and brush it with melted butter (or beaten egg).
Bake in the oven for about 45min, or until the pastry is nice and golden and puffed up a little.
Let it rest for a few minutes before serving, to allow the filling to set slightly. (You can skip this step if you’re too impatient like me though…!)
