This Vegan Cheese and Spinach Pie is perfect for large gatherings and makes a fantastic centre piece on a buffet table. Get the recipe below.
Party food
When you think of party food your mind probably doesn't automatically go to pies. But in my family pies are often served up at family gatherings as part of buffet table or to serve to a large group of guests.
Everyone loves a pie made with a buttery crust and a sumptuous filling. This Vegan Cheese and Spinach Pie is no exception.
The reason it's so good for parties is because it is huge. You could easily halve the recipe and still have 8 generous portions. This isn't a recipe for just a few people. It really is party food.
How to make a Vegan Cheese and Spinach Pie
Substitutions
Ricotta
Traditionally a pie like this would be made with ricotta. But, it goes without saying that ricotta isn't a vegan friendly ingredient. Unless of course you're buying a vegan alternative.
Vegan cheeses have come on a long way in the last few years and you can now buy vegan ricotta. My favourite brand is I am Nut OK. Their version called "Rigotta" is the perfect texture and flavour. But, it's very expensive if you're creating a huge pie like this.
So, my compromise is to use a mix of vegan ricotta and vegan cream cheese. Vegan cream cheese is not only a lot cheaper but it's also more readily available in most supermarkets.
Parmesan
Ricotta has such a mild flavour that a Spinach and Ricotta Pie is usually seasoned with nutmeg and salty Parmesan.
Of course Parmesan isn't vegan but you can now buy vegan "Italian hard cheese" in some supermarkets. If you can't get your hands on any then why not make a batch of vegan Parmesan which is made from a mix of garlic and onion powder, ground almonds and nutritional yeast. At a push you can just use nutritional yeast if that's all you can get your hands on.
Puff pastry
Store bought puff pastry is an "accidentally vegan" ingredient. Instead of using butter they use oil to make beautiful flaky pastry.
Whilst you could try making your own vegan puff pastry (which is easier than you might think) for this recipe I actively encourage you to use store bought pastry. The reason is because of the sheer size of this pie and because it's much more cost effective than trying to make your own.
Don't forget this is party food as well. We don't want to be slaving away making vegan puff pastry when we could be doing much more important things in the run up to the party!
The recipe
Vegan Cheese and Spinach Pie
Ingredients
- 50 grams non-dairy butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 kg spinach
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 200 grams vegan ricotta see the post for more information
- 300 grams vegan cream cheese
- 150 grams vegan parmesan
- flour for dusting
- 1 kg puff pastry
- soy milk to glaze the pastry
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4.
- Melt the butter in a pan with the oil. Finely chop the onions and then fry until soft.
- Put these in a large mixing bowl for the time being and allow them to cool.
- Taking half a bag at a time put the spinach into the pan and place on the lid.
- Let the spinach wilt for 2mins before giving a stir around, placing the lid back on and letting it wilt for another 2 mins.
- Remove the spinach from the pan and place in a colander.
- Let it cool for a few mins before squeezing out as much excess liquid as you can!
- Once squeezed dry chop finely and place in the bowl along with the onions.
- Repeat this process until all of onion is wilted.
- Stir in the nutmeg, and vegan cheeses.
- Season well and give the mixture a stir until fully combined.
- Roll out the first pack of pastry until it is as thick as a £1 coin and perfectly rectangle and place this onto a sheet of grease proof paper.
- Spoon the spinach and cheese mix onto the pastry leaving a border of roughly 3 inches.
- Roll out the second pack of pastry so that it is larger than the first.
- Brush the edges of the first pack of pastry with a little soy milk and then lay the second pack over the top.
- Take a fork and press the top piece of pastry into the second piece of pastry to seal it. (Alternatively you could crimp the edges by hand.)
- Score the top of the pie in a large criss-cross pattern and then finally brush it all over with soy milk.
- Slide the pie onto a baking sheet and place in the oven to bake for 40-50mins or until golden brown all over.
- Once it’s out of the oven let it rest for 10mins then serve while still warm.
Nutrition
More party recipes
I hope you have a fantastic party, whatever it may be that you're celebrating!
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