Roast Pumpkin and Feta Filo Triangles (Kolokithopita)

Just one little thing before today's recipe: Only two weeks to go before Tony takes on the Meat Free Week challenge. He will go without meat (and I will go without carbs) to raise money for animal protection organisation, Voiceless.

You can sponsor Tony for the Meat Free Week challenge by clicking here. He only has a target of $100 to meet and he's almost there! And of course he would be thrilled to exceed that target.

To make the week even more challenging for us, we will be preparing vegetarian, no-carb, Greek meals, AND I will be blogging about each and every one of them. We are slowly putting our menu together and have come up with three dishes so far: Vegetarian Moussaka with Tofu and Ricotta, Greek Roasted Vegetable Soy Flour Pizza and Feta Stuffed Peppers with Tofu Greek Salad.

We are so excited about this. Not only is it for a great cause – if enough people get on board it will make a huge impact on animal welfare, the environment and human health – but it just might kick-start an interesting new partnership for Tony and I in the kitchen!

It's no coincidence that my previous post for Roast Pumpkin and Feta Croquettes has almost the same title as today's post.

One gigantic butternut pumpkin from my organic veggie box delivery was enough to produce both of these deliciously addictive mezes (Greek for "tasty things to munch on"). The recipes for both are almost identical, up until you reach the sliding door where you either go croquette-way or filo-triangle-way.

The mixture that is prepared for these filo triangles is the same mixture used for the croquettes, with one ingredient removed (breadcrumbs), and another added (ground cumin).

The great thing about this is that you can double the quantity and make two different types of meze from the one mixture.

Both the croquettes and filo triangles freeze pretty well. Just defrost and lay on a baking tray and heat at 180 degrees celsius for 7 or 8 minutes to bring back that tasty crispiness!

Roast Pumpkin and Feta Filo Triangles (Kolokithopita)

Makes about 20

Ingredients

• 800g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cubed to 3cm
• 1 potato, peeled and cubed to 3cm
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely shredded
• 100g feta cheese, roughly crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 egg, lightly beaten
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Roast the pumpkin cubes for 30 minutes and mash.
2. Meanwhile, boil the potato cubes until tender. Mash.
3. Fry onions until golden.
4. Place potato and pumpkin mash and onions in a large bowl and mix well.
5. Add feta, mint and cumin and roughly mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add egg and mix again.
7. Lay 7 sheets of filo pastry on a workbench and slice lengthways into thirds (around 10cm thick).
8. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and make a rounded triangle shape at one end of a filo strip, a few centimetres from the edge (see Picture 1).
9. Take the bottom corner of the filo pastry and fold over the mixture to form a triangle shape. Brush pastry with olive oil (see Picture 2).
10. Continue to roll the triangle shape along the length of the filo strip to encase the filling, brushing between each fold.
11. Arrange filo triangles seam side down on a lightly greased baking tray and bake at 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes or until golden.

Picture 1: Place a tablespoon of mixture at one end of the filo pastry strip.

Picture 2: Fold the pastry over the mixture and brush with oil.

I'm linking this post with Veggie Mama's Meatless Mondays. Go take a look for some more fantastic vegetarian recipe ideas.