Gibanica – Cheese Pie
Traditionally,
gibanica is served with thick, fresh homemade yogurt. I’ve yet to find truly
satisfying vegan yogurt (especially in Europe). I had plain soy yogurt with
this last night for effect and to (somewhat) honor the culinary custom. One day
I’m going to try to make my own vegan kefir and yogurt. In fact, if you have
any experience with that, please let me know.
Serves 4 /
time 60+ min
Ingredients:
- 14 oz / 400 g puff pastry dough
- 2 Tbs margarine
- 7 oz / 200 g tofu
- 1 cup / 240 ml soy milk
- 1/4 cup / 30 g cashews lightly toasted, ground
- 1/4 cup / 30 g sunflower seeds lightly toasted, ground
- 1 Tbs sesame seeds lightly toasted, ground
- 3 Tbs chickpea flour
- 3 Tbs nutritional yeast flakes
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 Tbs lemon juice
Instructions:
Puree tofu
and soy milk in a food processor or blender until smooth.
In large
mixing bowl, combine tofu puree, ground cashews, sunflower and sesame seeds, chickpea
flour, nutritional yeast, salt, turmeric, lemon juice. Mix well until smooth.
Preheat oven
to 375°F / 190°C / level 5.
Melt
margarine in a small pan on low heat.
Lightly
grease a small (6 x 9 in / 16 x 24 cm) baking / casserole dish.
Roll out and
cut pastry dough as needed to line dish. Brush with melted margarine.
Pour 1/3 of
filling mix, spread evenly on pastry. Carefully top with another layer of
pastry, brush with margarine.
Assemble
another 2 or 3 layers until filling is used up, ending with a layer of pastry
on top. Brush with margarine.
Bake for 40
to 50 min until pie has risen, filling is firm, and pastry is puffy and golden
brown.
Allow to
cool before cutting. Serve with soy yogurt or sour cream.
Variations:
Spinach-cheese
gibanica: Add fresh chopped spinach on top of filling of each layer. Slightly
sweet cheese gibanica: Omit turmeric, use 1/4 tsp salt and add 2-3 Tbs sugar to
filling mix. Super cheesy: Add grated vegan cheese to each layer.
This recipe,
and my vegan recipe for Grah – Balkan Bean Stew, were specially created for the
cookbook and the entire travel made possible by my most generous contributor to
the Kickstarter project. Thank you, Julia! I’m also grateful to my friends at
Jets Like Taxis for the invitation to visit and travel with them. It was an
incredible experience!
Share this
EmoticonEmoticon