Vegan Cheese Pita Gibanica Pie

This is a family staple and we either call it gibanica (ghee-barn-eetsa) on my Serbian side or pita (pee-tar) in Croatian and in English, it's simply called a pie. 

Since omitting the classic sour cream, full cream milk, ricotta and feta cheese in this recipe I have substituted it with a dairy free healthier option. The flavours and combination are delicious. It's not the normal tasting Serbian and Croatian family classic dish we grew up on but living in 2019, times are changing and I am making small changes to reduce our carbon footprint along with healthy choices. 

Vegan Cheese Pita Gibanica Pie 

Ingredients

serves 6-8 people

375g Antoniou Fillo pastry (25-30 sheets)
400g Feta cheese (Bio cheese Biocheese from Woolworths)
200g Cocotribe natural yogurt (or try my home made recipe here)
2 cups Soy milk (use your preferred milk)
5 Vegan eggs (mine are from The Cruelty Free Shop)
2-5 Tbs Cobram Olive Oil, divide

Method
1. Mix the vegan egg in a large mixing bowl using the packet instructions. Add the feta cheese, sour cream, nutritional yeast and milk.
2. Grease a baking dish (about 30x20cm) with olive oil. Line the bottom with two sheets of pastry and layer the mixture using 2 sheets at a time and brushing with oil and then mixture until all the filo pastry fills the baking dish.
Cobram Olive Oil Dani Stevens Vegan Cheese Pie
3. Brush the final layer with some milk and oil to get that golden crunch top! Bake in a 180-200C degrees oven for 45 minutes or until golden. Serve hot or cold.
Dani Stevens Serbian Gibanica Croatian Pita Vegan Cheese Pie

 

BTW the word filo is Greek for 'leaf', though it also has origins in the Middle East and of course our Southern European and Balkan region. 

I hope you give this a go. It's a great alternative and it's not as fatty as our traditional cheese pies we used to eat back in the day.

Happy Thursday!

xxDani

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