My friend Andrew, made a Moroccan Filo Pie for Christmas dinner with his family. It was essentially a recipe for a vegetable nut roast with Moroccan flavourings.

I got a text from Andrew on Christmas Day to say they had made enough to feed 5000 and so I got lucky! His mum had an eureka moment and used up the left-over nut roast, by making pasties.

These were so yummy that I had mostly eaten mine by the time I thought to take a photo and Graham's pasty was long gone!

Moroccan Parcels

10 shallots
1 butternut squash
2 red peppers
1 medium aubergine
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5cm piece of ginger
400g can chickpeas, drained
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
125g peeled almonds, toasted
125g shelled pistachios
75g butter, melted
salt & pepper
1 pack of shortcrust pastry

Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180c/350f. Line baking trays with parchment.

Cut the shallots into wedges, deseed and dice the squash, cut the red peppers into strips and dice the aubergine. Mix together with the olive oil, spices and garlic, toss well, then place in the oven in a roasting tin for 20 mins.

Peel and finely dice the ginger and mix in a bowl with the chickpeas, chopped coriander, toasted almonds and pistachios. Stir this mixture into the roasted vegetables, season with salt & pepper.

Cut shortcrust pastry into squares, spoon a little filling onto one side and fold over into a triangle, seal with a little water or milk. Pierce a couple of slits in top, as air vents. Then brush the triangle with a little milk or beaten egg. Place the triangles onto baking trays and cook for about 30 minutes, until golden.

These would be gorgeous served hot with all the Christmas trimmings, but are equally delicious cold with some hot mango chutney.

Thanks Andrew and Andrew's mum!

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