This recipe comes from Anna Valentine's book The Veggie Tree, a one stop shop for all plant-based food lovers.
This plant-based meal is great for Christmas or pot-luck dinners. It can be adapted for vegans or made a little cheesy. It is great both ways.
Ingredients
| 1 bunch | Silverbeet, roughly chopped (Main) |
| 2 | Zucchini (Main) |
| 3 cloves | Garlic, crushed |
| 1 | Lemon, zest only |
| ½ cup | Olives, pitted and roughly chopped (Main) |
| 3 sprigs | Dill, or fennel, finely chopped |
| 2 sprigs | Mint, finely chopped |
| ½ cup | Parsley, finely chopped |
| 250 g | Ricotta cheese, or tofu, crumbled (Main) |
| 250 g | Cream cheese, or vegan cheese, grated (Main) |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| ½ tsp | Cracked black pepper |
| 1 | egg, or chia egg (combine 1 T chia seeds with 3 T water then leave to absorb for 10 minutes) |
| 19 sheets | Filo pastry (Main) |
| 100 g | Butter, melted or use 100ml olive oil |
| 2 Tbsp | Sesame seeds |
Directions
- Add 2cm of water to a pan and add the silverbeet. Cover and cook on high heat for 5 minutes until just wilted. Tip into a colander and run under cold water to cool quickly. Squeeze well to remove as much water as you can, then place in a clean, dry tea towel.
- Grate the zucchini and squeeze out any excess liquid. Place in the tea towel with the silverbeet. Fold the tea towel over the silverbeet and zucchini and twist the ends in opposite directions to squeeze out all the excess liquid.
- Place the garlic, lemon zest, olives, dill, parsley, ricotta (or tofu), cream cheese (or grated vegan cheese), salt, pepper and egg (or chia egg). Add the drained zucchini and silverbeet and mix together well.
- Place three sheets of filo together and butter the top layer. Place another three sheets halfway along the first pile and again butter the top layer. Repeat two more times to form an 80cm length of filo. Butter the entire length, then place a sheet across each join. Butter the entire length again. At this point you should have four sheets of filo left.
- Distribute the filling evenly over the filo leaving 3cm at each end and along the far edge. Fold the edges in, butter, and roll up like a pinwheel, starting from one end tucking and rolling from end to end, then back again.
- Line up the remaining sheets so they will fit the sausage you have made, buttering to join together if needed. Then butter this all over and roll the sausage over it. This will hold it all together.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the sausage in half, then each piece in half again, then each piece in half again, until you have eight equal pieces. Now cut each piece into three so in total you should have 24 pinwheels. Turn them on their cut ends and arrange on a lined baking tray. Brush the tops with butter and sprinkle over sesame seeds.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown. For a simple garnish, scatter cherry tomatoes over the pinwheels.