Vegan Phyllo Dough Pastry with Labane Cheese and Spinach

• Food processor 
• Mixing bowl
• Wide saucepan
• Scale
• Spoon
• Lemon squeezer
• Pastry brush

Ingredients:

Labane cheese:

• 150 g cashew (weight pre-soak), soaked for a few hours
• 5 tbsp of filtered water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 vegan probiotics capsules

• 1 bag of fresh spinach
• 300 g of pre-prepared cashew cheese
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 10 thawed phyllo sheets
• Zaa'tar
• Sesame seeds

1. Prepare the Labaneh: Drain the soaked cashews, let them sit in boiling water for 2 minutes (to kill unnecessary bacteria), drain well.
2. Place the cashews in the food processor's bowl with the filtered water. Blend well until smooth, this will take a few minutes.
3. Add the probiotics and blend well again for 30 seconds.
4. Carefully, remove the the blended cashews and transfer it to a clean glass bowl. Cover with plastic film and leave on the counter for 24 hours.
5. Transfer the cashew mixture back to the blender, add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.
6. Taste the the cheese and fix seasoning according to your preference.
7. The texture of the cheese is a little thick, this is perfect for filling a pastry like this Phyllo one. 
8. To serve the Labaneh as a cheese, you can add olive oil/water/lemon juice to make it more creamy. (I love adding lemon juice because I love my Labaneh very lemony).
9. Heat a wide saucepan on low heat, place the fresh spinach in the saucepan and mix until the all the liquids of the spinach are gone.
10. Set the spinach aside to cool down.
11. Place a single phyllo sheet on a baking paper on a flat surface, using a pastry brush, brush a thin layer of oil all over the sheet. Place another sheet on top of the first one and brush it with oil. Repeat this step with the remainder of the sheets.
12. Mix 1 tbsp of za'atar with 6 full spoons  of labaneh and mix well.
13. Place a spoon full of labaneh cheese in a thick line along the side of the sheet (you can also use a piping bag and pipe a thick line), place the steamed spinach on top of the labaneh.
14. Roll the sheets on top of of the cheese, keep rolling the dough into a thick sausage like roll. Brush the sausage with oil and leave for 2 minutes (the oil will soften the dough and will allow you to bend it).
15. Roll the sausage to a snail shape very gently and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
16. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the dough.
17. Bake for about 20 minutes until the dough is golden.
18. Enjoy!

Notes:

1. To serve the Labaneh as a cheese, you can add 3 tbsp of olive oil/water/lemon juice to make it more creamy. (I love adding lemon juice because I love my Labaneh very lemony).
2. If you prefer a less oily pastry, try using an unsweetened non-dairy milk as an oil substitute. The texture will be a little different but still good.