Spiced cauliflower, potato & feta bourekas with date molasses
Bourekas are Israeli pastry parcels. Yotam Ottolenghi made Israeli food a global favourite, and Australia has embraced it enthusiastically – the food ethos seems similarly open to all comers and all tastes. This was brought home when an Israeli friend told me: ‘Our food is so good because people from all over the world come here to make love in the kitchen.’
Serving Size
Makes 12
WHAT YOU NEED
2 large potatoes (about 500g), peeled and cut into small dice
1 small cauliflower (about 600g), finely diced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons nigella seeds
1 red onion, grated
2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 large handful coriander, chopped
150g feta, finely diced
Juice of ½ lemon
12 sheets filo pastry
100g butter, melted
To serve
Seeds from 1 small pomegranate
4 tablespoons date molasses
200g Greek yoghurt
WHAT TO DO
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Put the potato and cauliflower in a large bowl and add the oil and spices. Stir to coat.
Spread on a large baking tray and roast for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Stir in the grated onion, ginger and garlic and bake for a further 10 minutes, then allow to cool. Stir in the coriander, feta and lemon juice. Divide the filling into 12 portions.
Increase the oven to 200˚C. Grease a large baking tray. Unroll the filo sheets and (working with one sheet at a time so they don’t dry out) cut in half lengthways. Brush each half with melted butter, then lay one half on top of the other.
Place one portion of filling on the end of the pastry and flatten lightly with your hand. Fold one corner up and over the filling to make a triangle, and fold the other way to reinforce the triangle, and repeat until you have a filled pastry triangle.
Butter the outside of the pastry and lay on the tray. Fill all 12 pastries and then bake for 25 minutes, or until golden.
Meanwhile, put the pomegranate seeds in a small frying pan with half the date molasses and bubble over medium heat until the seeds start to pop. Swirl the remaining date molasses into the yoghurt. Serve both with the pastries.
Tip
You can freeze the unbaked pastries for up to a month. Defrost before baking.
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