Description
This vegan gibanica recipe is a traditional Serbian savoury cheese pie. A perfect and easy dish to put together and enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
- 400g / 14.10 ounces firm tofu
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ cup / 125ml aquafaba* (chickpea water)
- ⅓ cup / 18g nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup / 50ml + 1 tablespoon neutral oil (I used rice bran)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup / 250ml water (warm-room temperature is best)
- 375g / 13.22 ounces fillo dough
Instructions
- In a large bowl, crumble the tofu quite fine using your hands.
- Add in the lemon juice and salt and stir well. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius (390 degrees Fahrenheit).
- In a separate bowl, whisk the aquafaba until you get a nice white foam. This will take around 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- Once 20 minutes has passed, add in the whipped aquafaba, nutritional yeast, the 1/4 cup / 50ml of oil, baking powder and water to the tofu mixture and stir to combine well.
- Grease your baking dish with oil on the bottom and the sides.
- Open and unfold the dough and lay it to one side of the baking dish. Making sure to work quite quickly as the fillo will dry out and start to crack as it’s now exposed to air.
- Layer two sheets on the bottom of the baking dish, one in each direction. Creating an + shape (see images above).
- Crumple one sheet of pastry into the tofu mixture and make sure it’s immersed in the filling. Bring the dough over to the baking dish and start to fill it with the soaked sheets, tightly packing them next to each other.
- Repeat this process for one sheet at a time until you have only two sheets of fillo left. If you have any extra filling, pour this evenly over the top.
- Bring in the overhanging filo from the sides of the baking dish over the pie. Wrapping it like a parcel.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon water and the other 1 tablespoon of oil. Lay one of the sheets of the remaining fillo, brushing it with the liquid mix, tucking it in to make sure that it completely covers the top. Do the same with the last sheet of fillo and brush the remaining liquid mix over the top.
- Place in the oven to bake for around 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on the top (if your dish is bigger, it will need less time).
- Remove from the oven and let it cool for about 15-20 mins before cutting and serving. You can also wait for it to completely cool. The slices will hold their shape better (all images were photographed when the pie was cold).
- Serve with suggested sides or on its own. We love it with these chargrilled peppers.
Notes
Aquafaba: Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. Strain the chickpeas and store them for later use. You want the liquid from this to whip. It acts in a similar way to egg whites.
- Diet: Vegan
