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Winter warmer in January’s kitchen

Winter warming filo pasties

Martin was on Radio York on Sunday doing the gardening phone in and came back full of talk about the ‘Bake of the Day’ that the presenter, Julia Lewis had given him taste of. It was a Moroccan Filo Pie and seemed to go down very well. I had a look at the recipe brought in by chef Kate Zaleska and wondered if we could do a winter version with veg from the garden. She used sweet potatoes, red onion, peppers and chick peas along with cumin, mixed spice and paprika. My version uses leeks, parsnips, carrots, kale and kidney beans with some curry spices to add a winter warmth.

Makes 4 individual pasties with spare filling to serve on the side. Takes about an hour plus cooling time.

You can prep the filling ahead of time as it ideally needs to be added cold to the pastry

2-3 leeks, cleaned and sliced fairly thickly

Approx 350g each of parsnips and carrots

Good couple of glugs of oil

Good handful of kale, sliced

2-3 tablespoons curry powder (I used a curry mix from Dee Spice) or use some curry paste

1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

About 100g melted butter

Pack of filo pastry (8 sheets) – take out of the fridge according to the packet instructions

Damp tea towel for the filo pastry

Jar of passata (optional)

  • Peel and dice the parsnips and carrots into small bite size pieces. Pour into a pan of boiling water and simmer for just 4-5 minutes until they are just softening
  • Drain then pile into a shallow roasting tin. Add the leeks and toss everything in the oil and the curry spice.
  • Roast for about 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180C (fan 160) until the veg are just starting to tinge brown at the edges. Turn a couple of times during cooking.
  • Add beans
  • Simmer the kale until cooked then drain and squeeze out any excess liquid.
  • Take out of the oven, add the kidney beans and leave to cool.
  • Get your damp tea towel and cover the filo pastry as soon as you unwrap it as it quickly dries out and becomes brittle.
  • Brush each sheet with melted butter, piling them up as you go then cut the pastry into 4 rectangles.
  • Pile a good couple of spoonfuls of the filling into the middle of each pastry square. Pile some kale on the top then lift up the edges to meet in the middle – it doesn’t matter if it looks a bit rough – it’s part of the charm! I tend to lift 4 pieces at a time. Give them a gentle scrunch to stick everything together then brush with a generous amount of melted butter.
  • Add filling
  • Place on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for about 35 minutes until they are golden brown and the filo is crispy and brittle.
  • Whilst they’re cooking add the jar of passata (or use a tin of chopped tomatoes) to the left over filling mix and heat gently in a covered pan until the veg have finished cooking.

 

Serve straight away with a portion of the tomato veg on the side. They are good served at room temperature or reheated the next day – in fact the flavours develop nicely.