The traditional filling comprises chopped
spinach, feta cheese,
onions or
scallions,
egg, and
seasoning. Other white, preferably salted cheeses such as
kefalotiri may also be mixed with the feta cheese, and some may be used as a substitute for feta cheese. Herbs such as
dill,
mint and
parsley may be used as flavouring. While the filo-dough recipe is most common, some recipes use a village-style pastry
horiatiko, which has a thicker crust. It can also be made with
puff pastry. The pastry is golden in colour when baked, the colour often enhanced by butter and
egg yolk. It can be served straight from the oven or at room temperature. There is a "
fasting" (; "nistisimi"), or
vegan, version of spanakopita, eaten during
Lent and other religious fasts. This version has spinach, onions or green onions, other green herbs like dill, parsley, or
celery as filling and uses
olive oil and a little
wheat flour but no
eggs or
dairy products. The mixture is
oven-baked until crisp. Non-traditional vegan versions are available that typically use
tofu instead of cheese. In rural Greece, smaller amounts of spinach are used, with the missing amount replaced with
leeks,
chard and
sorrel. ==Related pastries==