Vegan Patatnik: Bulgarian Potato Pie

Patatnik is a Bulgarian potato dish made from grated potatoes, onions, spearmint, and often cheese and eggs. To make a vegan version, I used gram flour to make a vegan egg and cashews to make a vegan cheese similar to feta! This delicious, crispy and creamy potato pie goes perfectly with a shopska salad (Bulgaria's national dish) :)

Shopska salad- Bulgaria's national dish. The colours of the (vegan) soft cheese, green cucumbers and parsley, and red tomatoes and peppers resemble Bulgaria's flag!

Makes 4 large servings 

Ingredients:

For the vegan soft cheese:

•  75g cashews
• 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 and a 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white miso paste
• 1/2 a clove garlic (save the other half for later)
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast
• drizzle olive oil
• splash water

Everything else:

• 4-5 potatoes
• 5 tbsp gram flour
• 5 tbsp water
• drizzle olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, grated
• 1 and 1/2 cloves of garlic (use the other half from the feta)
• 1 tsp dried spearmint (or sub oregano or other dried herb)
• black pepper
• 4 tbsp melted vegan margarine
• sprinkle all purpose flour

Method:

To make the vegan feta:

1. Boil the cashews for 15 minutes.
2. Drain the cashews.
3. Add the boiled drained cashews into a blender with the rest of the feta ingredients, and blend until smooth. I find this easiest using an immersion blender. Taste and adjust seasoning and texture- it should be the texture of a soft cheese.
4. Set aside until later.

To make the pie: 

1. Preheat the oven to 210C.
2. Peel the potatoes and then grate them into a large bowl and stir in some salt. Let sit for 10 minutes or so.
3. Make the gram flour egg: whisk the gram flour with the water and a drizzle of oil until smooth. 
4. In a little oil, saute the grated onion and minced garlic with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes or so, until translucent and fragrant. Take off heat. 
5. Drain the potatoes: Squeeze out most of the water from the potatoes through a clean tea towel or cheesecloth. 
6. In a clean large bowl, add the drained potatoes, the gram flour egg, the onion and garlic, the dried mint, freshly ground black pepper and the vegan feta. Stir until everything is well-combined.
7. In a circular baking dish (~9in or so), brush 2 tbsp of the melted vegan margarine, and dust over a little flour. Add the potato mixture and pat down until flat and even. 
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, flip the pie onto a plate and then place back into the pan so that the pie has been flipped and the uncooked side is facing up. Brush the top with the remaining 2 tbsp melted vegan margarine and return to the oven. Bake for another 25 minutes or so, until golden brown and crispy on top.
9. Serve and enjoy!

To serve with a side of shopska salad, make extra vegan feta and toss chopped tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, red or green bell pepper, and onion with a salad dressing of 1 tbsp vinegar of choice and a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a drizzle balsamic and the vegan feta. 

Enjoy! :)