Camembert-spinach filo pastries with beetroot and pomegranate salpicon

This recipe is a little treat for times when there’s just a couple of you, but of course you can double it up if you like. It’s also a great Christmas recipe, with the festive look of the greens and the shiny red jewels of the pomegranate seeds in the salpicon (a type of chopped salad).

Camembert spinach filo slice. Credit: Penguin Random House / James Murphy

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g spinach, washed and drained
• 3 large sheets of filo pastry (45 cm x 25cm)
• 25 g melted butter
• 2 long slices cut from the middle of a Camembert round, each about 75 g (check that your Camembert is suitable for vegetarians, if you need this to be vegetarian)
• Sesame seeds (optional)
• Salt and black pepper

Beetroot and pomegranate salpicon

• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 250 g cooked beetroot, cut into small dice
• 1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
• Seeds from 1 small pomegranate (about 80 g)
• Small handful of parsley, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. First wilt the spinach in a pan in just the water that clings to the leaves after washing and draining, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Roughly chop, then season well and set aside to cool.
2. To make the salpicon, gently fry the shallot in the olive oil until soft. Add the diced beetroot and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the pomegranate molasses and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature, then stir through the pomegranate seeds and parsley.
3. Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C). Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a board and brush it with melted butter. Add 2 more sheets on top, brushing each with butter. Cut the rectangle into 2 squares.
4. Place half the spinach on one of the squares, making it about the size of a slice of the cheese. Add a slice of cheese, then wrap to completely encase the cheese in pastry. Make sure there are no holes, or the cheese will leak out. Tuck any ends underneath and brush with butter, then sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Place on a baking tray and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
5. Bake for 20–25 minutes until crisp and golden brown and serve with the beetroot and pomegranate salpicon.

This is an edited extract from Rick Stein’s Christmas (Penguin Random House, RRP $60).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.