Beef & Pork Spiced Roll made with Homemade Easy & Quick Filo Pastry
Why make filo pastry when you can buy it, right?
I agree with you, but sometimes its good to give myself a bit of a change and a challenge!
Apart from a bit of time, it’s so easy to make fresh filo, so easy in fact it’s something I really enjoy doing.
Just made fresh filo is soft to touch, slightly sticky and really easy to handle, if your up for making it, it’s well worth the time!
Once the filo is made, it can be used for lots of things, sweet or savoury.
Ready to eat
Try this easy beef & pork mince recipe, its full of Moroccan flavours of Zaatar, Sumac, Ras el Hanout, Tamarind and Harissa topped with sliced almonds and sesames seeds.
Not spicy, just full of flavours that remind me of sunshine, great for a family meal and because its full of vegetables, it can also be a meal in itself!
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Crispy layers of filo hiding beef and pork mince
What You Need
Pastry
450g Pain Flour
25g Salt
300ml Warm Water
30ml Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Sliced almonds – Optional
2 Tbsp Sesames seeds - Optional
Cornflour – lots
Melted Butter & Olive Oil for assembly
Smooth balls of filo dusted with cornflour resting on a tray also dusted with cornflour
Filling
750g Pork & Beef Mince
3 Large Potatoes – Peeled
3 Large Carrots – Peeled
3 Large Spring Onions
1 Large Red Pepper
1 Large Onion
2 Garlic Cloves - Crushed
2 Tbsp Chilli Oil or Chili Flakes in oil– See Tip Box
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tsp Paprika
Salt – To Taste
Pepper – To Taste
2 Tsp Ground Coriander
2 Tsp Zaatar
2 Tsp Sumac
2 Tsp Ras el Hanout
2 Tsp Tamarind Concentrate
2 Tsp Harissa Powder
12 sheets rolled out and ready to be used
How It’s Done
Pastry
Using a dough hook attachment, place the flour and salt into a bowl of an electric mixer and give it a good mix to combine – See Tip Box
Slowly pour in the oil and water, mixing all the time to bring it all together into a dough.
Keep mixing it for 5 minutes - what should be left is a soft slightly stickly dough.
Dust the worksurface with cornflour
Divide the dough into 12 equal weight pieces
Roll each of the pieces in to a smooth ball and place them onto a baking tray which has been dusted with cornflour.
Dust the pastry balls with more cornflour, cover the tray with a damp cloth and set aside to rest for at least 1 ½ hours– See Tip Box
After the time is up, dust the worksurface with cornflour and one at a time, roll out one dough ball into a large rectangle as thin as possible – so that it’s possible to see through it– See Tip Box
Lay the first sheet of pastry on top of some non-stick baking parchment dusted with cornflour.
Repeat with next dough ball and place on top of the previous sheet and dust with cornflour.
Cover with a damp cloth
Repeat with the rest of the pastry balls
Once the dough is rolled out, the dough is ready to use or it can be wrapped in cling film and stored in the fridge for up to three days.
Layers of filo ready to be filled and rolled
Filling
Cut the carrot and potatoes into small cubes the same size as each other and set aside until needed – See Tip Box
Chop up all the other vegetables to approximately the same size too and set aside until needed.
Place the chilli oil and olive oil into a large frying pan with sides
Add all of the prepared vegetables to the oil and with the heat on medium, cook them for 10 minutes
Add all of the seasoning to the pan, give it a big stir and carry on cooking until the potatoes are just fork tender – See Tip Box
At this stage, set aside until cool.
Filled and rolled
Ready for the oven
Assemble
Heat the oven to 200c
Mix the melted butter and olive oil together.
Lay out a clean cloth or T-towel on the work surface and with long side facing you, lay two sheets of filo on it.
Very lightly, brush the top sheet with the melted butter and oil mixture.
Measure approximately 2 inches along the long side of the first two sheets of pastry, and lay another two sheets of pastry on top
Lightly brush with the melted butter and olive oil mixture
Measure 2 inches along the long side and repeat with the remainder of the pastry until all of the sheets are used
Take the cooled meat mixture and spread it onto the sheets of pastry, leaving as much of the meat juices in the pan
Using the T-towel to help, begin to roll up the pastry until what’s left is a long sausage.
Brush a loose bottomed high sided cake tin with a little of the melted butter mixture and carefully lay the stuffed sausage into the tin.
Brush more of the butter and oil mixture over the top and pour over the leftover meat juices
Sprinkle the sliced almonds and sesame seeds over the top (if using) and place the tin onto a baking tray and into the oven.
Bake for 1 hour or until the top is a golden brown and the inside is piping hot – See Tip Box
Once baked, remove from the tin and serve hot or cold.
Cook the filling until just soft
Tip Box
Chilli – I used chilli oil but if you don’t have any, add some chilli flakes to some olive oil.
Place the oil and chilli flakes into a small saucepan and gently heat it for 5 minutes.
Turn the heat off and let the flavoured oil sit until cold before using.
The oil can be stored for us in the future.
Make Pastry by Hand – If making the Filo pastry by hand, bring everything together in a bowl. Once the ingredients have come together into a soft dough, remove from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes. After this, follow the recipe as written.
Damp Cloth – I use a clean damp T-towel to cover the pastry.
Roll out as thinly as possible – The pastry should be rolled out as thinly as possible. It’s easy to handle so use the cornflour to roll the filo out until its almost possible to see through it.
Chopping – Making the potatoes and carrots the same size will ensure that they both cook at the same size, it also looks so much better too.
Cooking the Filling- 1) Don’t overcook the vegetables. The potatoes should only be soft enough to still have a bite to them. All the vegetables will carry on cooking when in the oven.
2) Baking – all ovens vary so it may take longer than 1 hour to bake. If the top gets too dark in colour, cover the top with foil for the remainder of the cooking.
Eat hot or cold
