Phyllo Fun! - Vegan Spanakopita and Rummy Peach Pockets

From Foodsies!

It's time for Fun with Phyllo Dough! Plus some Fun with Fruit (and Rum)!

Everyone is so scared of Phyllo dough. Faw. Wusses.
The key to working with Phyllo is to chill out. Relax. Breathe. It doesn't need to be perfect. It isn't supposed to look perfect anyway. It's a flaky crust in the end anyhow - so don't worry about rips and tears and crumbles. It'll look natural when it's all said and done.
And anyway, it just has to taste good. And you know what? It will. Why?

Because Phyllo is much easier and much more fun to work with than common rumor has it.

Let me put it this way - I completely screwed up this Spanakopita and it still turned out fine. Not great, but that's ok because I know what I did wrong (and it wasn't the phyllo's fault).

Additionally, the Rummy Peach Pockets are fun and tasty, and they are a great way to use up any extra Phyllo dough leftover from the Spanakopita. They bake for the same length of time as the Spanakopita, so you can make them together. Ah, efficiency.

You can also fold these dishes into the typical triange shape. Instructions for that are at the very bottom of the page. The method in my instructions is for a sort of easy cheater casserole style of Spanakopita.


The first step is to get some vegan Phyllo Dough. It isn't hard to find. Athens brand is great.

Now you need to thaw it. It takes 2 hours sitting out on the counter to thaw. Too bad I forgot all about that. Oops.

Instead, I thawed it in the microwave by cutting the ends off the tube casing to vent any steam buildup and nuked it on the 3 power level (with 10 being the highest) for 30 seconds. I then flipped the tubes over and did the same thing for another 30 seconds. I then let it sit out while I got everything else ready. I then nuked them at 2 Power for 30 seconds.

Your mileage may vary. The safest bet is to give it the 2 hours, but who gets home 2 hours before they even start making dinner? Right. So, give it your best shot with the microwave.

Moving on...

Vegan Spanakopita

Ingredients

1 Package Phyllo Dough
1 Large Bag Fresh Spinach (or 6 big handfulls) OR 1 Package Frozen Spinach
1 Package Firm Tofu, regular or silken*
1 Onion, finely diced
1/2 Cup Walnuts or Pine Nuts, finely chopped or ground (optional)
1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley (optional)
1/4 Cup Fresh Dill (optional)
1/4 Cup Miso (mild, yellow, or white)
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Nutmeg

3 TBSP Olive Oil OR melted Earth Balance**

* You can use Silken or Regular tofu - both will work. The Silken will create a sort of creamy spinach mash while the Regular will create a firmer mix sorta like feta crumbles mixed with spinach.

** This will be for wiping on the phyllo dough. You can use an oil brush or a rounded knife to spread it on the dough. You can also try a spatula or a large spoon. Whatever works. The melted Earth Balance might be easier if you're without a brush.

Instructions

Spray a skillet with a bit of olive oil and saute the onion. At the same time, steam your spinach either in the microwave or by adding to the skillet along with the onion (and a few TBSP of water) and covering.
Once the onion is tender and see-through and the spinach is steamed, set aside.

In a large bowl, mash your tofu with a fork until it is crumbly (or mooshy, if you're using Silken). Add the miso and lemon juice and mix well. Now add in the spinach, nuts (if using), herbs (if using), olive oil, salt, and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. If you're using regular tofu, you want a mashy crumbly mixture without any really large chunks of tofu. If you're using silken tofu, just mix it all together.

Here is my mix, although I used too much spinach (i've now adjusted the recipe):

From Foodsies!

Now for the fun part.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Get out a large rectangular casserole (like 11x7).

Unroll your Phyllo dough. It should be in small, very very thin sheets. It will probably want to stick to itself, and to rip and tear and crumble. Oh well. You want to layer it fairly evenly across the bottom of the casserole. Don't worry if it curves up the sides some.

IMPORTANT: While you are working on each layer of Phyllo dough, you want to cover the rest with a sheet of saran wrap (or a dry towel) and then top that with a damp towel. This is because you really, really don't want to let the Phyllo dry out.

Once you've got a single layer down, brush it lightly with oil. Lay down another layer. Brush with oil. Lay down another layer. If you have to do it in strips or torn bits, that's fine too. Do the best you can and be patient when separating the Phyllo from itself.

Do this until you have 8 to 10 layers, depending on your patience.

Now cover with your spinach and tofu mixture. You want it to be about 1/2 inch to 1 inch deep and covering the whole dish all the way out to the edges.

Now lay down another 8-10 layers of Phyllo dough, brushing each layer with oil before laying down the next.

Finally, brush some oil on the top of the topmost layer.

Using a knife, score the top of the topmost layer (and on deeper if you want, but best not to cut through the bottom layer) so that when it's cooked, it won't tear or crumble so much when you cut it. You can see in my picture above where it is scored. You can't tell, but the cuts don't go all the way through to the bottom.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes at 375.
After the 25 minutes is up, remove from the oven and remove the foil. Return to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes at 350. You will know it's done when the top layer of Phyllo is a golden brown (but don't burn it of course).

Remove, slice, and enjoy.

Wait, what did I do wrong when I made it last night?

I forgot to oil between the layers of Phyllo dough. Sadface. I had the oil and brush all ready to go, I just didn't think to use it. I also didn't think to use it on the Rummy Peach Pockets. Way to go.

And yet, it all turned out OK. I'm sure it will be better with the oil, but hey. We got dinner and then leftovers for lunch out of it.


Rummy Peach Pockets

Ingredients

1 Package Phyllo Dough, Thawed
1 Bag Frozen Peaches (or 2 if they are small bags)
1 Cup Dark Spiced Rum
1 Cup Water

2 TBSP Brown Sugar
2 tsp Almond Extract (you can use Vanilla instead)
4 TBSP Water

3 TBSP Olive Oil or Earth Balance

Instructions

Thaw the Phyllo dough.

Thaw the peaches (microwave on 5 for 1 minute and repeat until no longer frozen).

Mix the Rum and water together in a large bowl. Add the peaches. Soak for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Remove from the rum/water mix and place in a microwave-safe dish. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and almond extract. Add about 4 TBSP of water.

Mirowave on high for 6 minutes.

Now get out your Phyllo Dough and a small rectangular casserole dish. Just like with the Spanakopita, layer the casserole dish with a sheet (or many strips and torn bits) of Phyllo and then brush with oil.

Don't forget to cover the Phyllo when not in use with saran wrap and a damp towel.

Repeat until you have about 8 layers.

Cover with the peaches so that you have one solid layer of peaches.

Lay down another 8 layers of Phyllo (oiling each one). Score the top layer where you want to eventually cut slices.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven, remove the foil, return to the oven and bake at 350 for another 15-20 minutes until the top layer of Phyllo dough is golden brown.

Remove and enjoy.

From Foodsies!

Timing the complete dinner:

You can bake both of these dishes at once. I advise getting the Spanakopita all ready while you soak the peaches. Once the Spanakopita is all ready in the casserole, get the Rummy Peach Pockets ready and then pop both dishes in the oven at the same time.


Making triangle pockets:

You can also make actual "pockets" with either of these dishes, rather than doing it slacker casserole style. Just cut (with scissors, or carefully tear with your hands) the Phyllo into 3-inch or 4-inch wide strips, place 1-2 spoonfulls of spinach mix (or peaches) at the bottom and fold up like you're making a paper football (or a flag). No need to coat with olive oil except on the top of the pocket.

Once you've got them all made, place the pockets in a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil and proceed like normal with the baking.
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Cooking Backlog - Greek Eggplant Casserole

Before I went vegan, one of my favorite Greek dishes was Moussaka. If you aren't familiar, it's basically a Greek lasagna. It has eggplant, beef, tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese. Sometimes the pasta and cheese layer is mixed with egg and some other ingredients to form a sort of custard. Most importantly, the dish is flavored with cinnamon in addition to the spices you might normally expect. What a difference that makes! For years I couldn't put my finger on what that spice was, I just knew it tasted different and wonderful and I wanted more.

There is another similar Greek dish called Pastitsio. It also involves pasta, cheese/egg/custard, tomato sauce, and beef. It also uses cinnamon as a spice. I tell you, Greece knows what the eff they're doing when they spice their dishes.

So the other day I was really craving something similar. I didn't want to just use veggie beef or something, however, because I am trying to eat healthier and increase my veggie intake. I've also been interested in trying eggplant, which i've always avoided (with the occasional exception in Moussaka, although i'd normally pick around it).

After poking through a few recipes and brainstorming, I came up with my own Greek Eggplant Casserole. It uses a wonderful creamy sauce, so while it doesn't have the thick custard/pasta top layer that Moussaka and Pastitsio traditionally do, I think it mimics the flavor and spirit of those dishes pretty well.

Then again, i'm not Greek.

This is a pretty long recipe, because it involves cooking the pasta, making the eggplant, making the cheese sauce, prepping the pasta sauce, and then combining everything into a casserole dish and baking. But trust me, it's easy and doesn't take terribly long. Otherwise I would never make it myself.

From Foodsies!

Greek Eggplant Casserole

Master List of Ingredients (it will be broken down and re-iterated later, but this is so you can scan and make sure you have everything you need):

1 Eggplant
1 Bag Pasta
2-4 Cups Tomato Sauce (Pasta Sauce, whatever you want to call it)
2 Cups Flour
5 tsp Salt
2 tsp Oregeno
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2.5 Cups Soymilk
3 Cups Water
1 Package Silken Tofu
1 Cup Vegetable Broth
4 TBSP Tahini
1 TBSP Onion Powder
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
2 TBSP Corn Starch
1/4 tsp Mustard Powder

OK got it all? Now preheat the oven to 350 so you don't forget to do it later.

To prepare the Pasta:

Grab a bag of pasta. I used shells, but any non-spaghetti style pasta will do. Heck, you could probably even use spaghetti.

Get a pot of water going on the stove. You're going to need to cook your pasta, so get that water boiling now. Then get started on your Eggplant.

To prepare the Eggplant:

1 Eggplant
2 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Oregeno
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 Cups Soymilk
3 Cups Water
2 tsp Salt (to go into the water)
1 tsp Salt (to be sprinkled on the eggplant)

Slice the eggplant into round sections. You can peel it if you're into that. Some people like their slices to be about 1/2 inch thick, but I prefer really thin slices so I get them as thin as I can.
Pour your 3 cups of water into a bowl.
Now drop about 2 tsp's of salt into the water and place the eggplant slices into the salt water. They'll float. Liberally sprinkle salt all over the exposed part of the eggplant slices. WTF?! you may be thinking. Well, eggplant is bitter and gross by nature, but if you salt it then the poor salt sucks up all the nastiness, leaving you with tasty eggplant.
So let the eggplant hang out in the salt water for about 20 minutes. During this time, you can make the cheeze sauce (skip down to the cheeze sauce section).

Also, your water should be boiling by now, so throw your pasta in.

Once the eggplant has finished soaking for its 20 minutes, mix up the flour, salt, oregeno, and garlic powder in a shallow bowl or pan.
Pour the soymilk into another shallow bowl.

Oil up a skillet and heat over medium to medium-high heat.

Dip each slice of eggplant into the soymilk and then dredge through the flour mix til its coated. If you want to be a good southern cook, dredge first into the flour mix, then into the soymilk, then back into the flour mix.
Throw the coated slices into the skillet and pan-fry til the outside is crispy and golden-brown.
If you run out of the flour mix, just make some more. You may have to do this in a couple of batches. Just set aside the finished slices on a cloth while you cook the others.

Is your pasta done yet? If so, strain it up and set aside.

To Prepare the Cheeze Sauce (you may have some of this leftover depending on how much you use on the casserole. If you don't want leftovers for dipping veggies etc. in, then please halve the ingredients below):

1 Package Silken Tofu
1/2 Cup Soy Milk
1 Cup Vegetable Broth (read: veggie bouillon in a cup of water)
4 TBSP Tahini
1 TBSP Onion Powder
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
2 TBSP Corn Starch
1/4 tsp Mustard Powder (optional - just makes it a wee bit tangier)

If you're weird like me, put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with an immersion blender until it is all mixed and thickens to a sauce-like consistency. If it's too thick, add in more soymilk.
If you're a normal cook, then just throw it all in a blender and blend to a sauce-like consistency, adding more soymilk if it's thicker than you imagine you'd want.

To Prepare the Tomato Sauce:

Pour about 2 cups into a bowl. Now add in about 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon. Taste.
Can you distinctly taste the cinnamon? If not, add in some more.
You want it to taste like tomato sauce with a distinct undercurrent of cinnamon. Or, just add in cinnamon until it tastes yummy to you.
You can also throw in a few shakes of nutmeg. Sorry, I put nutmeg in everything. And it's like the siamese twin of cinnamon. How dare you try and separate them.

To Assemble the Casserole:

You should now have the following:

Some pan-fried slices of eggplant
Some cooked pasta
Some Cheeze Sauce
Some tomato sauce with cinnamon (and nutmeg)

Spray an 11x7 casserole dish with oil or cooking spray.
Layer the bottom with the eggplant slices. You will probably want to overlap them some so that a) you don't have big gaps and b) so you use all or most of your eggplant.
If you sampled the cheeze sauce and really liked it, go ahead and pour a bit of it over the eggplant.
Pour the pasta over the eggplant.
Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the pasta. If you want more tomato sauce, just mix some more up and add. You will probably want to stir it around with the pasta so it all gets coated nicely.
Top with a liberal amount of the cheeze sauce. Feel free to mix it all in with the pasta. Whatever looks tasty to you.

Now bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese sauce looks like it's thickened up or is bubbling. Everything was already cooked beforehand, so you're mostly just heating it anyway.

Now eat!

Read more On "Cooking Backlog - Greek Eggplant Casserole"!