Vegan Potato Cakes with Spinach and Cream Cheese Filling
Make a wish:__ In our "Make a wish" series, we develop recipes that you have requested from us. Whether it's vegan chocolate bonbons, poor knights or vegan mince pies. Do you also have a recipe of your choice? Then send us an email to hello@zuckerjagdwurst.com. Until then, you can find all the recipes you've requested so far here.
It’s time for a new round of “Make a wish,“ and we want to admit right away that we actually planned to cook a different recipe from your wishlist. However, we asked you on Instagram about dishes you missed a few weeks ago and Jeanine responded with: potato cakes. So I immediately changed plans.
Potato cakes – I almost forgot about this dish even though I loved the ready-made version filled with cream cheese when I was a kid. Once I’ve read Jeanine’s comment, I decided that it was time to veganize them. You’ll only need a few, very simple ingredients because what we’re cooking is basically stuffed mashed potatoes.
It’s crucial to use floury potatoes and to mash them thoroughly which will help them stick together with only some additional flour – you don’t even need any kind of egg replacement. Our flour amount in the recipe can work as a guideline – if you notice that your mashed potatoes can’t be formed yet, just add some more flour. Vegan cream cheese, which you’ll need for the filling, is available in most organic stores and even in several supermarkets. If you don’t find it, just stay patient for a few more days because we’ll share a recipe for homemade cashew cream cheese next week.
The only “challenge“ with this recipe is shaping the potato cakes which takes a bit of patience. We recommend trying out different methods, in the beginning, to find out what works best for you – forming the cakes in your hand or on a working surface, how much filling is too much and how to form the cakes the easiest way. Once you’ve prepared a few of them, it will get a lot easier, and even if they don’t turn out perfect, they’ll still taste great!
Vegan Potato Cakes with Spinach and Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
- 1 kg (35 oz) floury potatoes
- 4 tbsp flour
- 100 g (3.5 oz) frozen spinach
- 150 g (5 oz) vegan cream cheese
- 25 g (1 oz) mixed herbs (e.g. parsley, chives, ...)
- vegetable oil for frying
- ajvar for serving
- salt
- pepper
- nutmeg
Instructions
Peel and quarter potatoes, then add to a pot, fill up with water until covered and season with salt. Boil potatoes until fork-tender.
Drain potatoes and mash them thoroughly - there shouldn't be any bigger chunks of potato left. Add flour and stir to combine. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.
In the meantime, defrost spinach in a fine sieve, which will allow any liquid to drain. Afterward, squeeze out any more liquid and chop spinach. Finely chop herbs of choice (parsley, chives, ...). Add vegan cream cheese, spinach, and chopped herbs to a bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Start with some of the cooled mashed potatoes and form them into a kind of rectangle on your hand or working surface. Add a teaspoon of the spinach and cream cheese mixture in the center and carefully fold the mashed potatoes around the filling so it's sealed inside. Don't worry if things don't go perfectly and some of the fillings spill out - you can either use some more mashed potatoes to cover it and even if it doesn't work, the potato cakes will still turn out delicious! If you don't need all the stuffing, keep for serving later.
Transfer the potato cakes on a large plate and refrigerate them for approx. 30 minutes or even freeze them for approx. 20 minutes so they can firm up.
Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan and fry potato cakes from all sides until golden brown. Serve them with a dip of choice - we loved the combination with ajvar and just served it with the remaining spinach and cream cheese filling.
