Middle Eastern Filo Pie Stuffed With California Prunes, Feta, Nuts & Herbs

Prune It is a healthy eating campaign designed to educate consumers to understand the role that California Prunes can play in helping to help reduce the fat and sugar content across a wide range of recipes.  When blended into a puree, prunes offer a useful fat replacer in cooking by adding fat-like (but fat-free) characteristics that also work to enhance the flavours in both sweet and savoury dishes.

In addition, the naturally occurring sugars present in California Prunes can also be used to provide a natural replacement for some of the processed sugars that traditionally feature in sweet recipes.  And because of their high fibre content and ability to add bulk to dishes, California Prunes also have a role to play in reducing portion size without compromising on filling power or taste.

California Prunes is a Vegetarian Society approved product. If you are a strict vegetarian following this recipe please ensure that you opt for vegetarian cheese, free-range eggs and vegetarian vinegar.

Makes: 6Prep Time: 40 minutesCook Time: 15-20 minutes
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INGREDIENTS

  •  
  • For the pie:
  • 200g filo pastry
  • 20ml olive oil
  • 100g quinoa
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful parsley
  • 100g feta cheese
  • 75g California Prunes
  • For the dressing:
  • 2 red onions
  • 1 red chilli
  • 2 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 preserved lemon

DIRECTIONS

  1. Cook the quinoa in 1 pint of salted boiling water for 8-9 minutes, then drain and run under cold water.
  2. Meanwhile finely dice the red onion and red chilli and place into a mixing bowl with the cumin, coriander, vinegar and olive oil. Pour the cooked quinoa into the bowl with the dressing and mix together to make sure everything gets coated with the dressing.
  3. Chop the preserved lemon and add to the mixture for an authentic flavour.
  4. Break up the Feta, using your hands, into the bowl, then chop and add all the herbs. Finally add the chopped California Prunes and mix together.
  5. Lay the sheets of filo pastry out and brush with olive oil. Arrange the pastry to make a 50cm rectangle 2-3 sheets thickness with brushed olive oil between them.
  6. Spoon the quinoa mixture down the middle of the pastry and roll up into a long sausage shape making sure the mixture is encased inside the pastry.
  7. Roll up the pastry up from one end to create a snail shell pattern and transfer the pastry onto a baking tray
  8. Brush with a little olive oil before baking in a pre-heated oven at 180°C until golden brown.

AUTHOR

Peter Sidwell

Peter Sidwell

California Prune Board Ambassador Peter Sidwell, is a chef, baker, TV presenter, author, and innovator of all things food related. Peter has been a chef all his working life and over the years has developed a simple, fresh and innovative way of cooking which focuses on the importance of fine ingredients and technical know-how to ensure the best results. Peter has travelled the world cooking, talking and demonstrating his approach and explaining how and why it works so well for all manner of food offerings. Peter works both with chefs, consumers, food producers and retailers to innovate, create process or refine procurement. Working from his new innovation centre in England's beautiful Lake District, Peter and his team create exciting, attractive and mouth-watering new recipes with digital content, showcasing the delicious flavour and versatility of California Prunes.