Inspired by so many recipes this is a remarkably easy filo pie recipe and pretty fun to make. One to make with the kids (well the rolling up of the pastry steps) and a total showstopper when you bring it to the table.

 
Ingredients
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
1 small leek finely chopped
500g lamb mince
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ras el hanout (I used Gewurzhaus brand)
6 semi sun dried figs (you can use either black or white or a mix), chopped
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
Approx 6 medium sized silverbeet leaves finely chopped (you can use any green leaves here, the silverbeet was what I had in the garden) 
Juice of one lemon
Season with salt and pepper
1 375g packet of filo Pastry ( I used Antoniou but I did have leftovers, which I resealed and put back in the fridge)
¾ cup olive oil
100g feta cheese, crumbled in small pieces
1/2 cup flaked almonds

Method
I'm not great at doing this but remember to take your filo out of the fridge at least 2 hours before you begin, to bring it up to room temperature.

Pre-heat your oven to 180 deg Celsius fan forced. Line a 30-33 cm baking tray with baking paper. I end up using at round frypan as my pan, it worked perfectly.

For the filling
Place the lamb mince in a bowl, break it up and add the chopped onion and leeks. Then add the figs, silver beet, spices, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. I initially transferred this to a lightly oiled hot frying pan to brown the mince meat. I wanted greater caramelisation so I transferred it to a roasting dish and put in the oven for about 10-15 mins to cook through and caramelise the meat and greens. While this was cooking I made a quick hummus to serve with the pie for dinner. I used Greg Malouf's recipe but with a can of chickpeas thoroughly rinsed so I didn't have to soak overnight (was delicious and super easy and made wonder why I buy pre-made hummus). Once the mince is brown let it cool off outside the oven before assembling the pie. 

Assembling the spiral pie
Place one sheet of filo on your counter/bench, with the long edge of the pastry in front of you. Brush with olive oil. Place another sheet of pastry on top and brush with oil.

Spread 4 heaped tablespoons of the filling along the length of the pastry, approximately a couple centimetres from the bottom long edge and one centimetre from the pastry sides. I sprinkled on top the of the filling small crumbles of the feta cheese and flaked almonds.

Roll the pastry tightly to form a log. Roll the log into a coil and transfer to the centre of the baking tray.

Continue to make the logs with the remaining pastry until you run out of filling placing each log around the first centre coil to form a larger spiral. Brush with olive oil.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden. 

Serves 4-6 people with other accompaniments. We had this for dinner with brown rice, Greek yoghurt, homemade hummus, tomato chutney and carrot/cucumber crudites. A very eclectic dinner that the whole family totally loved.

Beef, Fig and Pecan Pie

1 x 445g pack, defrosted Sour Cream Shortcrust Pastry (I use Careme Pastry)

Olive oil for the pan frying (I used local olive oil from Toolunka Creek Olives)

500g beef mince

1 leek diced

2 cloves garlic sliced roughly

2 cm of fresh turmeric cut finely

1 bunch of silverbeet cut up roughly

1 handful of purslane leaves (optional)

½ cup of our All Natural Pecans

½ cup of our semi sun dried figs diced (I used a mix of Black Genoa's and White Smyrna's in this dish)

1 egg beaten for egg wash

 -----

Preheat oven to 200c fan-forced (220c non-fan).

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the pastry sheet on a baking tray and keep in fridge while you prepare the filling.

Preheat a large sauté pan, once hot add a glug of olive oil then the beef mince. Leave the mince to brown stirring occasionally, once browned (allow 5 to 10 minutes) remove from pan into a flat tray to allow to cool.

Add some more olive oil to the pan reduce heat to medium, and cook the leek for 5 minutes, then add garlic, turmeric, silverbeet, purslane (if using) stir occasionally and allow the vegetables to gently cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables to a large plate or tray to allow to cool. Once both the meat and veggie fillings are cool mix them together.

Place the pastry on baking tray. Spoon the filling on top of the pastry, in a row down the middle, leaving enough border on each side so you can wrap the edges over.  Slowly enclose the filling with the pastry border on each side, pinching the sides as you go along (see the photo).

Brush the pie with eggwash.

Bake for 10 minutes at 200c fan-forced (220c non-fan), then reduce to 180c fan-forced (200c non-fan) and continue to bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with tomato and quince chutney, natural yogurt and a big bowl of greens.

 Serves 6

This is a super simple dish and with some very small ingredients swaps you can also make a Fig, Mushroom and Cheese Galette. I have done a very quick video on my instagram with the steps in the caption, see here.