Spanakopizza pockets

Doesn't that look lovely?  Whew!  It's been a busy couple of days.  Funny thing about life- when you're busy making food, it doesn't allow you a lot of time to blog about it.  I threw an end of summer bash last night, and I was busy all day preparing food for the party.  I made what I hoped was going to be THE definitive vegan jalepeno popper recipe- they even had coconut bacon in them!  However, the breading wasn't thick enough, and they leaked and made a big mess.  I'll double bread them next time and hopefully they'll turn out better the next time!  Also, the coconut bacon in them tasted strange.  When I mixed it in the cream cheese, most of the bacon flavor got lost and I was left with a weird coconut taste in my poppers.  Again, next time I'll try something different- perhaps with crispy-fried tempeh bacon or soy bacon bits the flavor won't be as off.

One of the things I was meaning to make but didn't have time for was spanakopita- Greek spinach and feta pie, at the request of my lovely friend Hope.  Retrospectively, not having time turned out to be a boon for me- because I thought of something better to do with the recipe.  My partner was in the mood for pizza, so I decided to try a bit of kitchen alchemy- and combine spanakopita and pizza pockets into flavor gold!  (Okay, that joke was really bad.  I'm sorry.  I'd say I won't do it again, but I'm totally lying.  I love bad jokes.)  The tomato sauce is spiked with dill and the "feta" is herbed tofu mixed with a sundried tomato, garlic, and basil cashew spread left over from last night.

Anyway, here's the recipe!
Enjoy!

SPANAKOPIZZA POCKETS

HERBED TOMATO SAUCE
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp dill
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.  Add herbs and saute for another minute, then add tomatoes and salt.  Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

While that's simmering, make the

SUNDRIED TOMATO BASIL "FETA"
1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
2 tbsp soy yogurt
2 tbsp white miso
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 c sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c basil, finely chopped
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1 block firm tofu (use herbed tofu if you can get it!)
4 cups finely chopped spinach
2 tbsp olive oil

Blend soaked cashews with lemon juice, miso, salt, and yogurt until smooth.  Add in sundried tomatoes, garlic, nutritional yeast, basil until everything is mixed together, but not completely smooth.  Crumble in tofu and pulse a few times until the consistency is somewhat like feta- again, you don't want it completely smooth.

Saute spinach in olive oil until wilted.  Mix into "feta" mixture.

FILO
20 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1 cup Earth Balance, melted
1 cup olive oil

OPTIONAL: vegan mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix Earth Balance and olive oil in a bowl, and then brush 2 baking pans liberally with oil mixture.  Working quickly, lay a sheet of phyllo on each pan, brush with oil mixture, then lay another piece of phyllo on top.  Do this for ten sheets of phyllo each. Slice both of the layers of phyllo in half crosswise so you have four pieces of phyllo, then divide the feta-spinach mixture into four equal parts and spread the filling on one half of each piece of phyllo, leaving half an inch around the mixture.  Pour roughly 1/4 cup of tomato sauce on top, sprinkle on optional mozzarella, then fold the phyllo over and seal the dough.  Bake for 20 minutes, pull out of the oven, brush with the remaining oil, and then bake for another 24 minutes or until golden.  Let cool for 5 minutes, and serve with remaining sauce poured overtop.