This vegan tart was inspired by the spinach-heavy spanakopita. The thick, quiche-like filling gets its richness from an almond-based "feta" and a bit of almond meal in the crust. Nutty chickpea flour is a great foil to the creamy filling.
Servings: 19- or 10-inch tart
Ingredients
For the tart crust:
1cupcooked quinoaI used red quinoa
¾cupchickpea flour
6tablespoonsalmond meal or flour
3tablespoonswater
generous pinch of salt and pepper
For the filling:
1cupalmonds
½cupwater
3tablespoonslemon juice
3tablespoonsolive oil
2clovesgarlic
¾teaspoontable salt
½medium onionchopped
3garlic clovessliced
4green onions
2teaspoonsdried parsley
10oz.frozenchopped spinach, defrosted
Instructions
For the tart crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 or 10-inch tart pan. Combine all crust ingredients and mix with your hands until you form a sticky dough. With wet hands, press the dough evenly into the pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is firm and dry to the touch and is just starting to brown.
For the filling:
Soak the almonds in very hot water for about an hour. Once the skins are wrinkly and loose, remove the skins by pinching one end and popping the almond loose. Blend the skinned almonds with the water, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt until smooth (leave mixture in blender).
Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for about 5 minutes, or until they start to take on a bit of color. Add the garlic, green onions and parsley and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for a few minutes until the entire mixture is warmed through.
Add the spinach mixture to your blender and pulse until you reach desired consistency of the greens (I pulsed until the greens were just little ribbons, but you can completely incorporate the greens or leave them pretty chunky).
Pour the filling into the crust, smooth the top, and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is set and browned slightly.