make | bundles of joy: red pepper and cherry tomato filo parcels

This week's recipe is great for a summer dinner party.  It's really tasty, really easy, and inexpensive too - but it looks impressive if you dress it right!

Now, we're not going to lie - the week we made these was actually really busy, so I'm not suggesting we necessarily dressed them right... But we don't think they don't look too shabby considering we were starving when we made them, and that night we'd already made a birthday cake and prepared a fruit compote.  And that's a testament to how easy they are - it'd just take a touch more effort to make them dinner party ready!

We suggest buying your filo pastry as it is a bit difficult to make.  It's not too expensive - we got ours frozen at M&S, but a packet of frozen Jus Rol at Tesco is about £1.50.

This features the golden pearls of beauty that are chickpeas.  Chickpeas are just so delicious and versatile.  In this recipe, they help fill you up, but they are the main ingredient in houmous (which is delicious) and make a great addition to salads.  You can put them on a roasting dish with a spray of olive oil and lots of smoked paprika and pepper and they become crunchy orange nuggets to embellish your greens.

Anyway, without further ado... to the recipe!

Enjoy today!!
- rosinaviolets    x

Red Pepper and Cherry Tomato Filo Parcels 

Serves 6 

1 x 270g pack of frozen filo pastry (these take about an hour and forty minutes to defrost fully).  

2 red peppers, sliced

2 red onions, thinly sliced

200g cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 x 400g can of chickpeas, drained

2 tablespoons fresh oregano

2 teaspoons smoked paprika 

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder / splash of hot sauce (our favourite is Encona West Indian Original Hot Pepper Sauce, which adds heat, but also flavour!)

freshly ground black pepper

• Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. 

• Spray a big frying pan with a little bit of olive oil (our favourite is Filippo Bero Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray, which is about £2.50 for a 200ml bottle) and cook the red peppers and onions for about 5 minutes until soft and just caramelizing a little bit.  If the pan gets a bit dry, don't worry - just add a splash of water from your kettle to steam fry the vegetables, and stop them from sticking.  

• Add in your paprika, chilli powder and black pepper, followed by the chickpeas and tomatoes.  Cook for a further 2 - 3 minutes, until the tomatoes are just softening up.  Everything should be smelling pretty good now! Add the oregano at the last minute.  

• Open out your sheets of filo pastry.  Cut them in half down the middle.  You should now have two piles each containing six sheets of filo.  Separate the filo into six double-thickness squares.  

• Cover two baking trays in greaseproof paper, and spray the paper with a little olive oil, rubbing it around with a piece of kitchen roll.  

• Move your first square onto one of the baking sheets, and then spoon the chickpea mixture into the centre.  Brush the edges with a little water and bring together to form a parcel, squeezing to join.  Make some room on the baking sheet so you can create the next parcel.  

• Carry on like this for all six parcels.  

• Bake in the oven for between 12 - 15 minutes until they are crispy and deliciously golden.  Serve with a green salad.