The rest of the filo: sweet potato, chickpea, kale and almond filo parcel

It can be a little challenging thinking of something that feels fancy and festive enough for Christmas, still a little traditional, but vegetarian and appetising to us. I was considering making something with filo pastry (we had some in the freezer), but then realised I had way too many things I wanted to make, and actually, since I had the filo defrosted for making mince pies, it made more sense to make this on Christmas Eve. So I did. It started with sweet potato, kale and almonds, then I added a bunch of stuff and spices and ended up with something kind of Middle Eastern in flavour. 

(makes 2 medium parcels)
(move the filo from freezer to fridge to defrost 3-24 hours in advance)

4 sweet potatoes
1 cup chickpeas, defrosted
~4 medium kale leaves
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
~2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp golden raisins
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil
half a package of thickish filo (#7 - #10) = ~10-12 sheets (used rest of package for mince pies)

Heat the oven to 375F. Put the sweet potatoes on a lightly greased baking sheet and put in the oven for ~30 min, until tender. When ready, remove, let cool until you can handle them and then peel.

Meanwhile, defrost the chickpeas and mash them roughly with a fork. Wash and chop the kale and steam it until just tender, along with the spring onions. Toast the almonds, tip into a bowl, then toast the coriander and cumin seeds. Let cool a little, then tip into a grinder and grind to powder.

Put the peeled sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash lightly with a fork. Add the mashed chickpeas, steamed kale and spring onions, almonds, all the spices, raisins and parsley. Mix, taste and season with salt and pepper.

Take the first sheet of filo and lay it on a baking tray. Grease lightly with olive oil, then put the next sheet on top. Keep going until you have laid out six sheets (or half the total number you have, some number between four and six). Squish half the filling mix into a fat sausage shape along one of the short sides of the filo pile, then roll up around it, tucking in the short ends as you go. Repeat with the other six sheets of filo. Brush the tops with more olive oil, cut slashes on top, then bake for 30-40 min, until hot and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool a little before eating.

Christmas: Filo mince pies with marzipan

I haven't been making anything much new in the last couple of weeks. I cut my finger pretty bad preparing chestnuts (which were delicious but perhaps not worth it?), so chopping etc was a bit of a pain for a while, and I was feeling a bit silly and not very inspired. Since I got back in the kitchen I seem to have been sticking to comforting old favourites (some several times / variations) - tapioca 'cheese' rolls, carrot and mung bean salad, lentil and onion salad, ful medammes, freekeh, chickpea curry...

But tomorrow is Christmas Day, so I have stirred myself and am just about feeling ready to cook new things again. I feel much better for it - I've realised cooking comprises much of my relaxation, creative stimulation and fun these days - without it I feel a bit flat.

It doesn't feel like Christmas until I eat my first mince pie, but mince pies don't seem to have made the transition across the ocean. So the only way I get to eat them is by making them myself. Luckily I had some mincemeat left that I made earlier. I was thinking of making my favourite mince pie pastry, but then I realised I also had filo on my mental list of things I wanted to make / to use up / that could be fancy for Christmas. So I used filo as the pastry (added bonus of keeping it simple by not needing to make pastry). Similarly, I had a huge hunk of marzipan* that we'd bought from Polcari's in Little Italy with Christmas in mind. I guess I was thinking of Christmas cake but it seemed daft to make more cake with so much birthday cake still hanging around; and Christmas cake AND mince pies seemed like overkill besides. So I thought I'd combine the two and put some marzipan inside the mince pies.

(makes 12 mince pies)
(move the filo from freezer to fridge to defrost 3-24 hours in advance)

half a large package of thickish (#7 - #10) filo pastry (you need 48 ~4 in squares) (used the rest of the filo for this)
1 400g jar of mincemeat
~100g marzipan*, approx 2 mm dice

Heat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Taking one square at a time, line each muffin cup with three squares of filo (you should wind up with 12 squares left; be careful not to let them dry out - keep under a clean, damp cloth). Add in the mincemeat (~2 tbsp per cup), and sprinkle some diced marzipan over the top of the mincemeat. Scrunch one of the remaining filo sheets and place on top of the mincemeat in each cup. Brush with a little almond milk if you like. Bake for approx 10 min, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and lift out of the cups to cool on a baking rack.


Once I'd done the maths of how many pieces of filo I needed, how big, how much mincemeat, etc, these were incredibly simple (thanks to having pre-made the mincemeat). Seriously, a three ingredient recipe - you can't get much easier than that. The crispy filo is very different from the usual crumbly shortcrust but I actually really like it: it looks really pretty and fancy, and crucially is not sweet - I think it's really important to have savoury pastry in mince pies as a counterpoint to the crazy intense sweet-spiciness of the mincemeat.

*actually, it is labelled almond paste and I think marzipan and almond paste might technically be slightly different things. If they are I prefer almond paste for most things - think it is less sweet and has a more pronounced almond flavour. Found full truth here.

Apple and mincemeat strudel

Using up the rest of the filo I used for this.  And some of the excess mincemeat jarred before Christmas - turns out it is still fine.

4 medium dessert apples
1 small (~250g) pot mincemeat
4 tbsp melted butter / marg
2 tbsp warm honey
~1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup breadcrumbs
4 sheets #7 filo

Preheat oven to 350F.

Peel and finely slice the apples.  Mix with the mincemeat.

Melt ~ 2 tbsp 'butter' in a small frying pan, add breadcrumbs and stir til they are browned and fragrant without being burnt at all.

Lightly oil a large cookie sheet.  Place the first filo sheet on it, smear with melted butter, then layer the other filo sheets in the same way (keep enough melted butter to put some on top of the roll at the end).

Spread the top sheet with warm honey, then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of that.

Put the apple mix along the long side of the filo sheets.  Then wrap it up.  Cut slits in the top filo and put some butter on top.

Put in the oven at 350F for 30-40min, til the filo is golden brown.

Allow to cool for ~15 min before slicing and eating.

This is actually surprisingly good!  The filo is a good texture and not burnt at the bottom, the apples are well cooked, the filling is tasty and not too sweet.  The browned breadcrumbs were definitely worth adding - they elevate it to being a proper strudel and not just an apple pie.  The apple vs mincemeat ratio is perhaps a little out - might have used more apple and less mincemeat.

Big Filo Packages of Chard and Potato

We bought a big bunch of chard and a package of filo from the Armenian grocers in Watertown - this suggested itself.

This makes 2 fat rolls.

~4 medium potatoes, peeled
1 large bunch (~1 lb) chard, stems chopped and leaves torn into pieces (separately)
1-2 onions, chopped
7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
~10 mushrooms, sliced
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
12 sheets thicker (#7) filo
a few olives, finely chopped (optional)
splash of white wine

olive oil
fake milk
salt and pepper

Peel and boil potatoes 15-20 min.  Mash (doesn't matter if they are not perfectly smooth) with fake milk, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Put into large bowl and set aside.

Fry the onions and garlic for ~5 min.  Add the chard stems and mushrooms and fry another ~5min.  Add salt and pepper and a splash of white wine to taste, and fry til combined and evaporated.  Add the parsley and chard leaves and stir and fry until the chard is wilted.

Add the chard mix and the chopped olives (and any juice or oil with the olives) to the potato and mix.  Set aside (it is good to let filling cool before putting it into the filo).

On a dry clean surface, lay out one sheet of filo.  Spread thinly with olive oil.  Put the next sheet of filo on top and spread with olive oil again, and this time add a sprinkling of sesame seeds.  Continue layering until there are 6 sheets (don't put anything on top of the last sheet).  Spread half the chard/potato mix evenly along one short end of the filo layers.  Then roll it up into a big fat roll, gathering and tucking the short ends as you go.  Cut diagonal lines through the filo on top, then brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Cutting lines in the top

Repeat with the other 6 filo sheets and remaining filling / seeds.

Heat oven to 375F.  Put rolls on baking trays into oven for 30-40min until golden brown (this may be quicker- keep an eye on them).  Remove and allow to cool a little before eating (filling will be very hot).

Finished result

The filling was really good.  Best to roll from the short end, as if you go along the long side you get loads of filo and little filling in the end pieces.  Best to bake on a ceramic or pyrex oven tray, not metal (bottom burned of metal one a little).  Sesame seeds on top all fell off when cutting - perhaps only put them inside?  Could try different fillings (think I will use the rest of the packet to do a little apple one), and also could try different shapes - individual sized packages, or a big layered pie.  The pastry split and flaked as it cooled, and then softened in the cooled version, but it was still good as a cold thing for lunch.