It started with some random thoughts on pastries and potato pies early in the week. By the middle of the week, the focus was on filo pastry, those fragile sheets that require lots of melted butter and that bake up shatteringly crisp. At the end of the week, these daydreamy thoughts threatened to take over every waking moment I had and something had to be done about them! After running some ideas past Mirna, I came up with the following idea.
I wanted a contrast to the crisp exterior of filo and so soft and creamy mashed potatoes would be the filling. But just mashed potatoes would be boring, no? How about some chopped browned onions mixed in? And then while I was at it, I fried some pancetta too and stirred that through. And then, heck, why not? Some grated cheese at the end. And this is what I came up with! We had them with some salad for dinner but they’d make a lovely snack or light lunch (that is, if you serve only one and refrain from gorging on them!).
If you’re not keen on the shape, after rolling the potato mixture into the filo, you can cut the cylinder into shorter lengths and bake it like that.
Bacon, Cheese and Onion Filo Spirals
makes 8.
For the filling
4 medium sized baking potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 large onion, chopped
70g pancetta, chopped
olive oil
3 tbsps milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few handfuls of grated mature cheddar
For the pastries
8 sheets of filo pastry
melted butter
To make the filling, place the potatoes in a pot, cover with water and bring to the boil. Boil until they are soft and ready for mashing. In the meantime, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped onions over a low-medium heat until they are starting to brown. Add the pancetta and fry until it has cooked and the oil rendered out. When the potatoes are done, drain them and return them to the pot for mashing, also throwing in the milk. Mash, mash, mash! Stir through the onions and pancetta and salt and pepper to taste. When the filling has had a chance to cool down, stir through the grated cheese.
To make the pastries, firstly preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Take a sheet of filo pastry (take care to keep the other sheets covered to prevent them from drying out – a damp tea towel is good for this) and lay it on your board/workspace. Brush the whole sheet with melted butter. Along one end, put an eighth of the filling (about 2 heaping tablespoons) and then roll up the entire sheet – you should have a long cylinder of filo pastry with the filling through the middle. Coil the cylinder into a snail shape but you can also slice the cylinder into smaller tube shapes. Lay the pastry on a lined baking sheet and brush the tops and sides with more melted butter. Repeat with the rest of the filo sheets and the filling.
When all the pastries are ready, slip the tray into the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve.
Sat, 7 Mar, 2009 at 04:07
I have some filo in my freezer and I was just wondering what I would do with it. I think I have my answer!
Sat, 7 Mar, 2009 at 04:18
Mmm, I’ve been looking for something to do with the filo in my freezer. This looks fantastic!
Sat, 7 Mar, 2009 at 09:02
It looks delicious!
Sat, 7 Mar, 2009 at 13:25
I think I could not keep from gorging on these.
Sat, 7 Mar, 2009 at 15:39
Holy moly! I could feel my jeans shrinking just looking at these; sinful but they sound gorgeous.
Sun, 8 Mar, 2009 at 01:59
This is such a great idea! It seems like it would be perfect for a packed lunch – make a batch, freeze, and heat up for the lunchbox.
Sun, 8 Mar, 2009 at 14:55
Refraining from gorging on them would indeed be the problem! I don’t think I could manage it to be honest!
Mon, 9 Mar, 2009 at 23:35
Elle: Filo’s a good thing to have in the freezer! Hope you have some butter too.
gaga: Thanks! Hope it goes well for you!
kat: Thank you!
Donald: We has very few leftovers…
Lizzie: Oh yeah, might as well just brush that butter straight onto our thighs. 😦
Rachel: I was thinking that too….but unfortunately there wasn’t enough for lunch the next day…
Helen: 😀 Oh, we know the feeling…
Tue, 10 Mar, 2009 at 12:36
What a great idea, I love the shape too.
Fri, 13 Mar, 2009 at 23:25
Ginger: Thank you! Blai actually wasn’t fond of the shape…
Sat, 14 Mar, 2009 at 16:55
These look great. I’m curious though…start to finish, how long would you say it took you to make these?
Sat, 14 Mar, 2009 at 22:18
Krista: Mmmm….lessee. The mashed potatoes take like….half an hour. The putting it together takes…another half an hour. Baking is another half an hour. So about one and a half hours from start to finish if done all at once?
Sun, 15 Mar, 2009 at 03:59
wow, filo and bacon. That has to be good! And it’s rolled up like sausage… haha. This is really great.
Thu, 19 Mar, 2009 at 13:19
Danny: 😀 And cheese! And onions! And potatoes!
Thu, 2 Apr, 2009 at 17:49
This is a very creative and delicious idea! What a clever way to use filo dough :). The filling sounds delicious.
Fri, 3 Apr, 2009 at 22:40
Sophie: Thank you very much! The filling was good enough to eat by itself!
Mon, 14 Dec, 2009 at 16:58
This looks like an absolutely tremendously tasty recipe. I’m printing and trying this out this weekend. I’ll report back with findings 😀
Sun, 6 Mar, 2011 at 21:26
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