These filo pastry rolls make an excellent starter, or you could serve two rolls each for a light meal. The filling is a colourful mixture of low-fat minced chicken and plenty of vegetables, with a little smoked ham and fresh herbs to add to the flavour. The rolls are served with a piquant cranberry relish.
For Greek-style chicken parcels, cook 30 g (1 oz) long-grain rice for 12 minutes or until just tender; drain and rinse. Meanwhile, soften 1 finely chopped onion in 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil for 5 minutes, then set aside. Put the rice and onion in a bowl with 225 g (8 oz) minced chicken or turkey, 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts, 2 tbsp raisins, 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint and 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill. Season to taste. Mix together well and divide into 8 equal portions. Cut the sheets of filo pastry into 8 strips as before. Brush each strip lightly with the olive oil and butter mixture, and put one portion of the filling at one end. Fold the pastry over the filling into a triangle. Continue folding down the pastry strip to make a triangular-shaped parcel. Brush all the parcels with the butter and oil mixture, and scatter over 1 tsp poppy seeds. Bake for 30 minutes.
Unlike most other types of pastry, filo contains very little fat – in 100 g (3 ½ oz) filo there are 2 g fat and 300 kcal. The same weight of shortcrust pastry contains 29 g fat and 449 kcal.
Useful source of vitamin A, vitamin B6.