June's calendar recipe is the kind of simple crowd-pleaser that every vegetarian should have in their repertoire. Feta, mint and lemon zest make a pastry filling that's bright yet rich, and ready in minutes. They're folded into layers of filo pastry, which can be wrapped up small for party bites or large for a meal. These cheese triangles are so flaky and tasty that no-one begrudges the shower of pastry shards caused by each bite.
For convenience, I used a powdered egg replacer instead of the real thing. It didn't seem to offer much binding power to our firm feta and I didn't really mind so you can skip the egg entirely if you please.
Feta & mint filo parcels
(from Robyn's Recipe Calendar 2013)
300g feta, crumbled
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons mint, finely shredded
1 egg, lightly beaten
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
375g packet filo pastry
125g butter, melted
Preheat an oven to 200°C and line two baking trays with paper.
In a medium bowl, mash together the feta, parmesan, mint, egg and lemon zest.
Unpack the filo pastry and roll it in a slightly damp towel. Retrieve two sheets of pastry, lying one on top of the other, and roll up the rest. Dab the pastry with melted butter and fold it longways once or twice, to form a long thin rectangle of half or a third the width of the original pastry sheet. Spoon a triangle shape of cheese mixture into one corner of the pastry and fold the triangle over and over to completely wrap up the pastry. (Since my instructions aren't great, take a look at this video.)
Repeat the pastry filling and folding to use up the ingredients and brush any extra butter over the pastries. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crisp and golden.
great flavours - and I always love a recipe where you can skip the egg altogether - will be interested if you make a vegan feta to veganise these :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Johanna! Yes, I reckon some nut-based cheese could be great in pastry.
DeleteYou really can't go wrong with cheese and pastry... ever
ReplyDeleteI'm with ya, Elizabeth. :-)
DeleteBeing Mediterranean, I grew up with a lot of this sort of food and I totally took it for granted. I remember trying to use filo pastry for the first time in my 20's and I was SO disgruntled! I should never play with pastry when I'm mad. My grandmother always made it look so easy - but then again, she made her own pastry from scratch! Ha. These sound good. I have some macadamia feta at home and some filo in the freezer. Maybe I can make this happen later in the week when I'm feeling relaxed ;)
ReplyDeleteAA, I can imagine these being *brilliant* with macadamia feta! And that's excellent advice - never play with pastry when you're mad.
DeleteCrispy cheesy minty goes together so well :) I make cheese-filled filo things a lot but every time I see someone else making them I wanna rush off and immediately make some more. Yours look particularly appetising. I think I'll try them without egg next time..
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa - so you often use egg in yours? Do you notice it in the final dish?
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