Friday 28 February 2014

Sweet Potato & Olive Filo Pastry Tunisian Briks


Here is a remnant from Tunisia month, back in January. I've been pretty busy, and generally trying to spend less time sitting and staring at my computer screen. So, as a consequence, I've succeeded in doing a lot less blogging so far this year. That meant that a few of my January Tunisian recipes didn't end up getting posted so I'll bring you a couple of late ones, starting with these briks.

Briks are a popular and common dish in Tunisian cuisine, but these ones are a far cry from the traditional ones! Traditionally they're made with a thicker pastry made with eggs and then deep fried. But I was on a bit of a health kick after Xmas indulgence so I thought I might bake them in flaky filo pastry. Traditional fillings include fish (especially tuna or anchovies), egg, capers, potatoes or cheese. I've made mine using sweet potato (because I love it so much), olives and capers.

Ingredients
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed (500g or so)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp harissa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp capers
8-10 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Filo pastry sheets
Melted vegan butter/margarine 

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C. Boil the sweet potato until just tender. Drain and place in a large bowl. Mash until smooth.
2. Stir through the shallots, olive oil, harissa, cumin, capers, olives and parsley.
3. Take a sheet of filo pastry (keep all the other sheets covered with a damp teatowel while you work to prevent it drying out) and cut it into 3 rectangles. Brush each with melted butter and fold in half so that your rectangle becomes a square. Add a tablespoon of filling to each and fold over to form a triangle. Place on a baking tray and brush the tops with melted butter too. 
4. Continue until you have used up all the mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just golden brown (keep an eye on them as they will go from "cooked" to "overcooked" very easily).
5. Serve immediately.





Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

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