The Meat Eater has been complaining that since I became a student, all I cook is oven chips. This is a little harsh, but not entirely untrue, so I made an effort and looked for some recipes to cook this week. Tonight’s effort was HFW’s version (called ‘Corner Shop Spanakopita’ because a friend challenged him to make something using only ingredients he could find in his local shop) of Spanakopita (taken from his River Cottage Veg Every Day! cookbook), a Greek dish usually made with filo pastry, onion, spinach, feta cheese and spices. Hugh’s version was near enough identical except it was made with puff pastry, not filo. The other ingredients were onion, frozen spinach, goat’s cheese, cumin, thyme and eggs (well, there would have been eggs in it if I’d remembered to add them).

I would type out the whole recipe but Hugh waffles on in his cookbook (which probably isn’t much of a surprise) so if you want the recipe, you’ll have to buy it.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pretty pictures.

Here’s a blog post from another Spanakopita recipe (and the full recipe is there), a recipe I prefer to this one.

Related posts:

1. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Mushroom Risoniotto Another recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Veg Everyday! cookbook. One thing...
2. Mushroom, spinach & potato pie Mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, crème fraiche and filo pastry. Yes, it’s as...
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For the full story behind my recipe check out Kait’s Inside Dish

Ingredients for Apple Bread
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white granulated sugar
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp of cinnamon
2 flax eggs ( 2 tbsp of flax seeds + 6 tbsp of water)

1/4 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup of soy milk
3/4 cup of applesauce

1 apple cored, peeled, and chopped
1 tsp of sugar 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Ingredients for topping
3 cups of soy milk
1 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of all spice
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tbsp of maple syrup
2 tbsp of sugar
3/4 cup of chopped walnuts

Method

1) Preheat oven to 350, in a mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg baking powder, and sugars)

2) In a separate bowl combine together all wet ingredients (apple sauce, vanilla, maple syrup, flax eggs, and soy milk) add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly

3) Toss chopped apples in cinnamon and sugar mixture and then fold apples into batter, pour batter into a 9 x9 in baking pan and bake thoroughly for 35 minutes or until bread is firm and all the way cooked through, let cool for 10 minutes

4) slice bread into 4 long slices a little bigger than 2 inches in width. Place on a greased baking sheet for an addition 10 minutes (5 on each side to help bread become more firm and dry

5) Cut bread into cubes about 1 inch thick and place on the bottom on a grease 9 x 13 ” baking sheet, in a side bowl combine ingredients to make bread pudding ( Soy milk, vanilla, syrup, walnuts and spices) Pour mixture over bread cubes and let bake for 40 minutes or until the liquid begins to bubble.

6) remove from heat and let sit (don’t worry if there is still liquid in your pan it will become absorbed once you let the dessert sit.

For Valentine’s Day next week, we have some dessert suggestions for you.
(click on the photo to go to the recipe)

This makes a very nice pie, individual pies, or hand pies for Ventine’s Day. The sweet cherries with the sour rhubarb is a tasty combination.

Yield: 8 hand pies or 1 large pie

Ingredients:

for the crust:

• 2 & 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup vegan margarine
• 1/4 cup coconut fat other vegan fat
• 1/2 cup soy yogurt, cold
• 1 tablespoon soy milk or water to brush the crust
• 1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

for the pie filling:

• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
• 1 large jar or can cherries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon or ginger as optional flavoring
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca

Directions:

to make the crust:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor.
2. Cut in the vegan margarine and coconut fat or other vegan fat.
3. The mixture should resemble sand.
4. Add the soy yogurt and mix to form a ball.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.

to make the filling:

1. Clean and chop the rhubarb.
2. Combine the ingredients in a saucepan.
3. Mix in the cornstarch while the liquid is cold.
4. Heat the mixture until the sauce has thickened. Make sure to stir the mixture often so that it does not stick or scorch.
5. When the mixture has thickened, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

to make the pie:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.
2. Separate the dough into 2 sections, return 1 to the refrigerator while you work with the other.
3. Roll the dough out to fit into the pie form or individual pie forms, or for the hand pies.
4. It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Place the dough in the pie forms or if you are making hand pies, place the bottom shapes on a baking parchment lined cookie sheet.
6. If making a pie, or individual pies, prick the bottom dough in various places with a fork.
7. Fill the pie with the filling. If making hand pies, be careful to not overfill the shape.
8. Take the second half of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out.
9. Cut strips to form a lattice for individual forms, or roll out for a full top, or roll out and cut for hand pies, which ever you have decided to make.
10. Carefully place the top dough forms on the pies.
11. Crimp the edges of individual hand pies with a fork.
12. Lightly brush the top with soy milk or water.
13. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.
14. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown.
15. Allow to cool slightly before eating as the inside of the hand pies is very hot and can burn.

Notes:

Of course if you do not have rhubarb, just a cherry filling or any berry filling is also fine.