Chickpea Spanikopita
INGREDIENTS
  • Chick pea crust:
  • 1 3/4 cups chickpeas for sprouting (yields 2 1/2 cups)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup parsley leaves
  • 3 Tbsp raw tahini
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Vegetable layers:
  • 4 cups hopped spinach
  • 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup chopped basil
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • pinch sea salt
  • 2 avocados
  • 3-4 tomatoes, sliced
  • Lemon-tahini sauce:
  • 1/4 cup raw tahini
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 Tbsp nama shoyu
  • 1 soft date, pitted
  • pinch sea salt
  • Garnish (optional):
  • 1/4 cup chopped black olives
  • 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS
  1. To make the chickpea crust:
  2. Sprout the chickpeas.
  3. In a food processor, finely chop garlic and parsley.
  4. Add sprouted chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and lemon zest and blend until smooth.
  5. Season with sea salt.
  6. Press the chickpea mixture into a 10-inch pie plate or into a 10-inch round, flat patty on a platter.
  7. Dehydrate at 108 degrees for 12-20 hours or until the crust has a crunchy texture.
  8. Prepare vegetable layers:
  9. Toss together the spinach, zucchini, fresh herbs (set aside a pinch or two for garnish), oregano, olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt.
  10. Evenly distribute the spinach-zucchini mixture in the bottom of the crust or spread evenly over the flat crust.
  11. Slice the avocados and layer evenly over the spinach-zucchini mixture.
  12. Press to form a neat layer.
  13. Layer tomato slices on the avocados.
  14. Garnish if desired.
  15. To make the tahini-lemon sauce:
  16. Blend tahini, lemon juice, orange juice, lemon zest, garlic, nama shoyu, and date until smooth. Season with sea salt.
  17. This sauce should be thick but pourable.
  18. Add a little water if necessary to blend to desired consistency.
  19. Serve in a dipping cup on the side.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
Vegan, raw version of spanikopita.