Chef Lisa Marley makes a festive savoury filo wreath
Lisa Marley, plant-based chef and head trainer at ProVeg (@lisamarleychef on Instagram) told Express.co.uk: “I love the festive season, and one of my favourite ways to embrace the Christmas spirit is by creating a beautiful and aromatic filled wreath as a centrepiece for Christmas lunch or dinner.
“This delightful tradition not only adds a touch of elegance to Christmas but also serves as a savoury dish that’s easy to make.
“The wreath can also be filled with a sweet centre and is versatile enough to whip up relatively easily. The trick is to keep it on a long piece of parchment and use that to transfer it to a baking tray. Then remove the excess baking parchment. It’s mainly store cupboard ingredients but looks impressive.”
READ MORE: Mary Berry’s paneer and vegetable curry is lovely with a simple side of rice
Ingredients
- 300g spinach
- 300g extra firm tofu
- One teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- Half a teaspoon of garlic powder
- Half a teaspoon of onion powder
- One lemon – juiced and zested
- Rosemary – two teaspoons finely chopped
- 40g dried cranberries, roughly chopped and soaked in orange juice
- 100g chickpeas, drained
- 40g toasted nuts – pine or walnut
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12 filo pastry sheets
- Dried cranberries and fresh rosemary for decoration
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Method
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan-forced) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Blanch the spinach or gently wilt it in a pan, then squeeze any excess water out when it is cool enough to do so. Blitz in a food processor before adding in the crumbled tofu, nutmeg, garlic, rosemary, cranberry, zest and juice, then blend until well combined.
Place the mixture into a large bowl and stir through the chopped cranberries, chickpeas and nuts. Season with plenty of salt and pepper.
To build your wreath, place one sheet of pastry on a bench. Brush or spray with oil and stack another one. Repeat this two to three more times. Continue to do this until you have two piles of pastry, then join them with a little oil spray to make one long piece.
Place the filo onto the tray and spread the filling along the middle of the filo. Roll as you would a Swiss roll and then shape it into a circle. If it splits anywhere, top with a bit more filo.
Add scrunched-up filo on top for decoration. Brush or spray with oil or melted plant butter and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
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