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:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Pasta is probably my all time favourite food, I just adore it! Lately, though, I've been trying to eat a little less of it because I'm not quite as young as I used to be and I don't burn it off as easily, so now pasta is a real treat. I'm always a bit excited when a pasta dish comes up as part of my research for a country, because then I have an excuse to make pasta :)

This Tunisian dish of pasta and beans is wonderful - hearty, nourishing and beautifully flavoured. Traditionally it is sometimes made with the addition of Mergues sausages, so if you like, you can throw in some chopped vegetarian sausages when you add the pasta. I've used frozen broad beans, but you can also use dried - just soak them with the chickpeas and add them at the same time.

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta & Beans)

Ingredients
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked for 24 hours and then drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp harissa paste or harissa spice mix
3/4 cup green lentils, rinsed
1 x 400g diced or crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
200g pasta (any large shape such as large spirals or shells)
1 cup frozen or fresh broad beans

To Make
1. Soak the chickpeas for 24 hours and then drain and rinse.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until soft. Add the harissa paste or spice mix and fry for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
3. Add the chickpeas and lentils and enough water to cover them. Then add the tomato paste and tin of tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 90 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Keep an eye on the water level and add more water as needed during the cooking.
4. Once the beans are cooked, add the pasta and the broad beans. Simmer, uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente. You may need to add more water as it's cooking in order to properly cook the pasta.

Serve.

Serves 4-6

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Tunisia!

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)
Sweet Potato, Olive & Caper Briks

Mzoura (Tunisian Harissa Parsnips)

Parsnips are often a vegetable which gets undervalued, a lot of people dismiss them without giving them a chance or just don't got near them in the first place because of some childhood memory of mushy boiled unflavoured parsnips. Well, I love parsnips - if they're cooked right! They add a beautiful hearty nutty flavour to soups and stews. They were just delicious in my Swede & Parsnip Cottage Pies. They're perfect for all kinds of comfort food (potato and parsnip mash anyone?). These simple but really tasty Tunisian spiced parsnips really impressed. I cooked them up as side veggies for one of my dinner parties and they ended up being a favourite of many of my guests!

Mzoura (Tunisian Harissa Parsnips)

Ingredients

800g parsnips, peeled and sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp harisa paste or harisa spice mix

2 tbsp agave nectar

Fresh coriander, to garnish (optional)

To Make

1. Boil the parsnips until only just tender. Drain well and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large frypan and add the onion and garlic. Saute until the onion is softened.

3. Add the cumin, corander and harissa. Fry for about 30 seconds and then add the parsnips and about 1/2 cup water. Simmer until the water is gone and then add the agave nectar and stir to coat completely. Heat through and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6 as a side veggie. Perfect for potlucks.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Tunisia!

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Sweet Potato, Olive & Caper Briks

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

It's wonderful to try new desserts from all over the globe as part of my world food challenge. The only problem, of course, it it's potential impact on my health!! In Tunisia they have a dessert of fried orange flavoured doughnuts soaked in orange blossom and honey syrup. Sounds divine but oh my, I'm not sure if I should be eating that! So, I've dived well off the ladder of authenticity with this one and baked my doughnuts. I'm sure it creates a much different dish but honestly they were pretty delicious, although with a slightly more bready/bagel-y consistency than they were probably supposed to. I made my orange blossom syrup with agave instead of honey and I think that it replicated the flavour quite well.

Ingredients
1 x 7g sachet of yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups plain flour

Agave & Orange Blossom Syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tsp orange blossom water

To Make
1. Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes until the top becomes very frothy and it smells yeasty. Stir in the oil, orange zest and orange juice.
2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and then make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and stir well. Turn the dough out onto a floured benchtop and knead for 5 minutes (or use a mixer with a dough hook, I think I have one somewhere but I always prefer to knead my dough by hand).
3. Wash, dry and lightly oil the large mixing bowl and then return the dough to it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or a cloth and set aside in a warm place to let it rise for 2 hours.
4. While it's rising you can make the syrup by combining the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and then bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the agave nectar and orange blossom water. Simmer on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, or until thickened and syrupy. Transfer to a jar or bowl and cool completely. Once cool, refrigerate.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down and then tear off pieces about the size of a billiard ball. Roll into a log between your hands and then connect the ends to make a doughnut shape. Now stretch the hole in the middle out so that it's a bit bigger than you think it should be (because the yeast will rise more as it bakes, so if you make the holes small they'll disappear when you bake them!). Continue until all the dough is gone.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes, until just golden. Remove from the oven a punch a couple of holes in them with a skewer to help absorb the syrup and then put the hot doughnuts straight into the cold syrup. Allow to soak, turning as necessary for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a plate. Serve.

NOTE: To make these more authentic, follow the recipe up to step 5 (inclusive), and then instead of baking them fry them in oil for about 3-4 minutes each side. Then drain briefly in a paper towel, punch holes with a skewer and soak in the syrup.

Makes about 14 yoyos.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Tunisia!

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Sweet Potato, Olive & Caper Briks

Tunisian Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

Sweet tender cooked carrots make up the bulk of this easy and delicious north African salad, flavoured with harissa and tangy lemon & vinegar and punctuated with marinated black olives that pack a punch of flavour every time you get one. I love cooked salads, and this one made me really happy. It's healthy, quick to make, a bit different to your usual table salad and perfect for all seasons.

Ingredients
1 kg carrots
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp harissa (you can use paste or spice mix)
1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
10 marinated kalamata olives

To Make
1. Trim and slice the carrots. Place in a pan and cover with water; bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
2. Combine all the remaining ingredients except the olives in a jar and shake to combine.
3. Drain and rinse carrots. Place in a bowl and dress with the dressing in the jar.
4. Sprinkle olives on top and serve at room temperature.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Tunisia!

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Sweet Potato, Olive & Caper Briks