Butternut Squash and Spinach Pastry Swirls
Often considered a 'superfood', butternut squash is loaded with phytonutrients and antioxidants. I regularly use it to make soup and curries and roast it in a variety of recipes because it's one of the few vegetables that everyone in the family loves. When I produced this new butternut taste explosion, it came as no surprise that it got wolfed down in seconds!
Mouthwateringly delicious and full of flavour, these crispy filo pastry swirls are sure to impress even your non-vegan friends. Using inexpensive, easy to find ingredients, they’re simple to make and look great on the plate.
To make the filling:
Dice 2 red onions and chop one large butternut squash into small cubes.
Fry the onions in olive oil and when they begin to look glassy, add the squash. Stir frequently.
After a couple of minutes, add ½ tsp of thyme, a pinch of cinnamon, salt, pepper and the finely grated zest of one large orange, along with half of its juice.
When the butternut squash has softened, add 2 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves. Take the mixture off the heat and allow to cool.
To create the swirls:
Lay out one sheet of filo pastry. Brush with almond milk and add another sheet on top. Brush again.
Take 1/6 of the butternut squash mixture and lay it end to end along the longer side of the pastry, close to the lower edge.
Roll the pastry up until it resembles one large sausage, with the mixture inside. Then, starting at one end, curl it up so it resembles a large snail shell.
Fry the rolled up pastry swirl in olive oil over a low heat. When one side is nicely browned, flip over and fry the other.
Repeat this process 5 more times to make 6 swirls.
To serve:
Place some fresh spinach leaves on top and drizzle with homemade tahini sauce and sweet chilli sauce.
To make the tahini sauce:
Place the following ingredients in a vitamix or food processor and thoroughly bled:
150g of tahini paste
The juice of two lemons
1 minced clove of garlic
120ml of water
1 tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper