Spinach & Feta Filo Parcels

The spinach & feta cheese parcel is a popular main course, which is favoured by vegetarian and meat eating customers alike. Using ingredients such as filo pastry, with feta cheese & spinach, a healthy direction is taken whilst maintaining a luxurious, yet rustic Mediterranean approach. This dish has a flavour that is not invasive, whilst providing a delicate balance between a slightly salty cheese, with the sweetness and silkiness of buttered spinach.

Ingredients (for one portion):

Approx 200g Feta Cheese

12 Leaves Fresh Spinach

½ clove crushed garlic

1 Tsp lemon Juice

1 tsp butter (unsalted)

2 teaspoons whipping cream

2 sheets filo pastry (approx 10’’ x 8’’)

2 Leaves fresh basil

1 egg. Beaten.

Equipment:

Heavy bottomed saucepan

Greaseproof lined baking tray

Pastry Brush

Wooden spoon

Mixing bowl

Sharp knife you are comfortable with

Teaspoon (for measurement purposes)

Cutting board

Preheated oven (to 200 degrees C).

Cold hands.

Method:

For the spinach & feta mix, place the butter into the saucepan and heat gently on the hob until melted. Add the crushed garlic and spinach, and stir for approximately three minutes until the spinach has begun to soften. Extract garlic and spinach from the saucepan into a mixing bowl. Add the cream, feta cheese and lemon juice, and stir together with a wooden spoon. Chop the basil leaves into a fine confetti (approximately ½ a centimetre square) and stir into the mix.

Lay out one sheet of pastry with the shorter edge towards you, and spoon half of the mix onto the edge closest to you leaving a gap of about an inch at each edge. Align the mix into a sausage shape about an inch thick.

Take the edge closest to you, using the gap to cover the mix on top, then roll the parcel until the pastry just covers the entire mix. Fold in the edges (this assures the mix does not leak in the oven) and continue to roll the parcel until the sheet is used up. Repeat this process for the other sheet.

Place the parcels on the baking tray, then use the beaten egg to glaze the parcels with a pastry brush, then put on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for approx 10-12 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

Serve on a warmed main course plate, with dressed seasonal leaves.