Phyllo or Filo pastry became a ‘fashionable ‘new trend’ ingredient in the eighties if my memory serves me correctly. Of course these recipes in the countries and cultures of origin are all about tradition and will be timeless. Phyllo originated during the middle ages in Turkey and spread throughout neighbouring regional counties where some quite beloved dishes evolved and remain.
This is a dish that can be prepared well in advance, relatively simple, easy to finish and one all will enjoy.
400-500g skinned salmon fillet cut into 50-60g pieces
1 Courgette
1 Carrot
½ fresh leek
½ a 120g bag baby Spinach, any leftover could be utilised in a salad
1 teaspoon freshly picked and stripped thyme
20g butter
A grind of sea salt
2 good pinches white pepper
6 sheets filo pastry
Another 30ml butter melted
Cut the courgette, onion, celery and carrot into thin strips, (use a julienne cutter if available), rinse the spinach. Place the butter into a pre-heated pan, vegetables and cook until softened, lastly add the spinach, take off heat and cool.
Take the filo out of the packet, place out one sheet, brush with butter, place another sheet on top, brush that sheet with butter and add one more sheet making it three sheets in total. Cut into squares large enough to fit into a medium sized muffin tin leaving good overlapping corners. Repeat the procedure to make 6 -8 lined moulds.
(It is always an estimate to work out how many you will get, I aimed to make 6 and made 7 in my recipe. It depends somewhat on the size of your muffin tins)
Place some of the braised vegetable strips into each of the pastry layers, place a piece of salmon fillet on top, gently pushing down to get a nice moulded shape, place another layer of the vegetable on top. If the overlapping pastry is not enough to cover the top, place a square of additional filo on top. Butter the pastry, wrap over and press around the edges to seal. Fold in the sides and press around to seal. Brush with a little more butter.
Gently remove the ‘pies’ from the muffin tin, invert onto a tray lined with cling film, cover with cling film and refrigerate until ready to cook. They will keep prepared for another day.
Cook in oven at 200°c for around 15 minutes. Serve with freshly tossed salad dressed simply with lemon juice and virgin olive oil.
Keeping in tune with the origins of filo pastry, the salad pictured here is based on a Middle Eastern salad known as Fattoush. This salad normally includes crisp pita bread as a base but the crisp filo ‘pie’ in this recipe removes the need for this.
A healthy mix of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, basil in season, and pomegranate seeds as available. Simply dress with lemon juice and a generous drizzle of New Zealand virgin olive oil.