Recipe Directions

1. Process walnuts in food processor until it’s a powder. Add dates and salt and process until it’s smooth and sticky.

2. Divide in half, and press one half into the bottom of a square baking dish. Feel free to blot crust with paper towels as walnuts make things kind of greasy but are necessary to convey the kind of taste desired in this dish.

3. Set other half of crust aside for later. Clean out food processor. This may take some time.

4. Process cashews, bell pepper, lemon, and water until rather smooth and cheese-like. Add more salt if desired.

5. Spread as much as you like of the “cheese” into the pan on top of the crust. I used a rubber spatula, and it worked out well. Spread spinach on top of this.

6. Somehow get the last blob of crust to lie evenly on top of everything. This is tricky. I blotted then pressed the crust into a square-ish shape on a piece of parchment paper and then flipped it over on top of the pan.

7. Dehydrate for about 12 hours or so until the crust is a nice, flaky consistency.

Samesofam's Thoughts

By samesofam

YEAH! I was obsessing over spanakopita, a Greek pie of spinach and feta cheese wrapped in phyllo dough, for weeks and have developed a pretty close substitute.

Thanks to kandace and poemmom for providing base recipes with which to work.

Special note for non-dehydrator owners: Buy an oven thermometer and see how warm it is without actually being on. Mine’s about a steady 100 degrees, so i just leave things to be dehydrated in the turned-off oven.

It usually takes about twice as long as with a regular dehydrator, so I really dehydrated this almost a full day. but I think people with dehydrators can make this recipe faster than I can.

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Comments

Top voted

10 votes
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cool! i was actually pondering philo dough substitutes the other day (for making baklava). at pure food and wine they dehydrate blended young coconut meat to make their samosas and i think it would make an ideal thin layer for this. just an idea. =)

10 votes
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Amazing! :)

9 votes
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totally going to try this this week!

All

6 votes
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This is a serious favorite! So filling; next time I am going to use seasoned flax meal in place of walnuts which were a little hard on my digestion...loved it though, so creative!

7 votes
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maybe it's a better to dehydrate everything separately and then assemble? i used an oven on 100 degrees, not a dehydrator, so that may have something to do with it.

s

5 votes
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I REALLY want to get this recipe right, it looks so delish, PLEASE HELP!

I made this the 1st time and it never fully dehydrated the crust stayed dark brown and “mushyâ€Â, but the edges were golden brown (and tasted great!) I left it in the dehydrator for 40 hours, and I blotted the oil off to help it along, but it never got to the golden flaky stage.

I made this a second time. This time I dehydrated the crust apart from the filling and the crust came out GREAT! But, when i put the filling on the inside and put it back in the dehydrator, it started to get mushy and dark brown again and would not get to the point where the crust was golden brown and flaky like the picture.

I really want to get this recipe right. I notice that poemmom stated that she was gonna try it, if your out there please tell me what you did and if it worked for you.

9 votes
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totally going to try this this week!

Top Voted
6 votes
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I made it but instead of one pie I put it into 3 small quiche looking tart forms and dehydrated one side of the top cover separately, then flipped on top of the tarts and continued dehydrating more. Heavenly!!!

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hmm, good question. i don't have a dehydrator, but i'd suggest to leave it in longer. perhaps my estimated drying time is too short? check on it, though, and don't let it burn. maybe mine came out a bit more even because it was an oven? the answers are unclear at this point, but like many recipes, this one is imperfect and can always use improvement! s

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ok...so I make this dish and put it in the dehydrator at 115 yestarday at 2pm, now it is 9pm the next day. The edges look crispy and golden brown(and taste GREAT, i pinched off a little), but the center is still mushy and dark brown. Mid way i blotted the "pie" with paper towels alot because of the oil hoping that would help it dehydrate a little faster. Should I leave it in longer and if so, will it go bad?

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This is great! Not many raw greek recipes out there! Thanks! I don't think I have had the non-raw version of this dish but spinach and cheese sounds good to me!

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Looks lovely, thanks

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thanks, This looks wonderful and im trying this first thing in the am! I'll report back with the results.

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hi drea, i didn't do anything to the walnuts, but i imagine soaking then dehydrating would probably improve the nutritional value of this recipe!

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You know, I've gotten lots of grief from family and friends about my choice to go vegan and mostly raw... I try to tell them that Raw Foods are soooo exciting that its hard to contain myself! They don't understand... but YAY!!! I get so amped about raw foods... yay!.... yay!

5 votes
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Do I soak the walnuts first or soak and dehydrate them?

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thanks, i hope you guys like it as much as i did! i ate practically the whole pan and felt ill from too much fat! let me know how it turns out for you if you make it.



pianissima, great idea - i wish i weren't terrified of hacking apart a coconut! and carrie, the original does usually have onions, but raw onions make me ill, so feel free to add them!

s

6 votes
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Great picture! I can't wait to try this!!! I thought this dish had onions in it? Maybe i'll try it both ways :)

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Amazing! :)

Top Voted
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Awesome!!! I agree totally Johnny!!! This recipe is just absolutely a winner! Raw food definitely needs to take over the world!!

7 votes
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Yes yes yes! I've been looking for this! Thanks!

10 votes
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cool! i was actually pondering philo dough substitutes the other day (for making baklava). at pure food and wine they dehydrate blended young coconut meat to make their samosas and i think it would make an ideal thin layer for this. just an idea. =)

Top Voted
5 votes
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I used to love the cooked version of this recipe, a Greek friend's grandmother made it quite often. Congrats on the raw version, I'm getting spinach and cashews in my lunchbreak and will try the recipe tonight!!!

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You gotta be kidding me. Raw food needs to take over the world! This recipe is brilliant. It looks divine, total drool worthy. BRAVO!!!

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