Ingredients
1 Large butternut cut into cubes with skin on (remove only seeds)
100g pearl barley
1 Large red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 large red pepper
1 large bunch of fresh coriander
olive oil
½t dried red chili flakes
1t fennel seeds
1t cumin
1t ground coriander
1 cup of mixed dates and dried apricots
½ a lemon
1pkt of filo pastry
1T shelled pistachios
1T icing sugar
Method
Cut butternut into cubes. Leave the skin on and only remove seeds. Chop onions and peppers into 1cm cubes. Finely chop the garlic with the coriander stalks (reserve the leaves for later). Place it all in a pan on a medium-low heat with 2 tablespoons of oil, the chili flakes, fennel and cumin seeds, and the ground coriander. Sweat with a lid on for 25 to 30 minutes, or until soft but not colored, stirring occasionally.
Cook the pearl barley according to the packet instructions, then drain.
Finely chop the dates, apricots and coriander leaves. Fold into the veg pan with the drained pearl barley, squeeze in the lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, then leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Lay down clean damp tea towels (to ensure pastry does not dry out) on a large work surface, side-by-side. Working quickly, lay out 3 sheets of filo side-by-side with the short edges towards you, overlapping each one by 3cm and brushing between the overlaps with water. Lightly brush the sheets with oil, place 3 filo sheets directly on top, then repeat with another 3 sheets. Save the remaining sheet for patching up.
Spoon your filling in a line along the long edge of the pastry. Brush the opposite edge with a little oil.
Working slowly and carefully, use the tea towels to help you roll it up and away from you into a giant cigar, keeping it on the damp tea towel at all times. Roll it into a large pinwheel, working quickly but handling it gently to avoid too many cracks.
Gently slide it onto a large greased baking tray, and patch up any gaps. Brush all over with more oil and bake for 45 minutes, until crisp and golden.
Ten minutes before you remove from oven, smash and sprinkle over the pistachios and then a dusting of icing sugar over and let it continue to bake.
Please like and share our page Lynne's Contrived Kitchen and follow our website for more free recipes at https://lynnemccarthykitchen.blogspot.com/