These little filo pastry parcels are packed with a cheese, basil, mint and watercress filling – perfect for a picnic
Prep:25 mins
Serves 8
large bunch watercressgood handful basil, roughly choppedgood handful mint, roughly chopped4 spring onions, roughly chopped2 large eggsfreshly grated nutmeg100g feta, cut into small cubes85g artichoke hearts in oil from a jar, drained and chopped50g butter270g pack filo pastry sheets2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan (or vegetarian alternative)
STEP 1Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove any thick stalks from the watercress, then chop the rest and put in a food processor with the herbs and spring onions. Blitz for a few secs, then add the eggs, nutmeg and some seasoning, and blitz again briefly – you don’t want too fine a chop. Tip the mixture into a bowl and stir in the feta and artichokes.STEP 2Melt the butter and unwrap the filo sheets. Cut them into 12-13cm squares through the layers – you may have too much pastry but the leftovers can be re-wrapped and saved for another recipe . Stack 4 squares of pastry on top of each other, brushing lightly with butter as you go, offsetting each square to get a star shape all round the edge. Continue until you have 8 stacks.STEP 3Press each stack into a deep-hole muffin tin and fill with the feta mixture. Fold over the pastry to enclose the filling, pinching it together. Brush the tops with the remaining butter and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 25 mins until the pastry is golden and crisp. Leave to cool for a few mins, then remove the tins and cool completely on a wire rack. Pack into a plastic container to take to the picnic and serve with a tomato salad, if you like.
