Spinach Flan
Day 21: Getting fancy. Everyone in my family loves this dish including my ‘what’s-the-meaning-of-tofu’ husband.
I have only ever made pastry with butter – yes, BUTTER – but I was delighted by the flakiness of this pastry. This is from Isa Chandra Moskowitz, courtesy of my friend Nicole. I added sliced mushrooms – just add when you add spinach.
Ingredients:
For Pastry Crust
1.5 cups unbleached white flour
2/3 cup vegan spread – I used Earth Balance
3 Tbs Water
Filling:
2 bunches spinach, washed and chopped fine, or 16 oz chopped frozen spinach (I used a combo of this and baby spinach leaves)
1lb Firm Tofu, crumbled
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, choppped
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 veggie bouillon cube (I used 1 Tsp of Marigold reduced salt Bouillon)
1/2 Tsp dried Marjoram
1 Tsp dried basil
1/2 Tsp paprika
Pinch cayenne
1/2 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp black pepper
1/2 Tsp Mrs. Dash Table Blend mix (I didn’t use this because I didn’t have it and could not find it)
Measure the flour into a large bowl and chill in the freezer for half an hour.
Remove, cut in the cold vegan spread and blend with fork or fingers until it is breadcrumby texture. Add water gradually, until it clumps together. Form a dough ball and press flat. Flour up a flat surface and roll our the dough with a rolling pin until it is about 1/8″ thick. Lay into a 9″ flan dish and crimp edges. Wrap and keep in fridge until ready to use.
Filling:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit (220 Celsius). Grind cashews in food processor until flour-like in consistency. Add tofu and nutritional yeast, blend until creamy.
Add oil to a pan and heat to medium/high. Saute onion for about 5 minutes, until transparent. Add garlic and saute for no more than a minute, until fragrant. Add bouillon cube and spices. Add chopped spinach and saute until completely wilted.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the spinach and the tofu mixtures. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. If the mixture feels too stiff, add a little soy milk or, if it is too runny and does not hold its shape, add a little flour. 
Add the filling to the crust and spread out evenly and smoothly. Dust with nutritional yeast (don’t let it stream out like I did the first time I made this!)
Bake for 10 minutes to set pie crust, then turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake for 25-35 more minutes until crust is golden brown.
Cool on rack for 5 minutes before serving.