Lamb and silverbeet pie with cucumber yoghurt

Tam West

Lamb and silverbeet are quintessential Kiwi foods to me. Here they are given a Middle Eastern twist and made into a filo pie with feta and spices. Kiwis love pies.

Ingredients

6	Silverbeet leaves, stalk ends cut off and discarded, leaves sliced 2cm thick (Main)
75 g	Butter, melted
3 Tbsp	Breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp	Extra virgin olive oil
1	Onion, finely chopped
5 cloves	Garlic, finely chopped
½	Preserved lemons, peel only, finely diced
½ tsp	Ground cinnamon
½ tsp	Nutmeg
1 pinch	Chilli flakes, large pinch
300 g	Lamb mince (Main)
2	Eggs, beaten
200 g	Goat feta, crumbled coarsely (Main)
12 sheets	Filo pastry (Main)
1 Tbsp	Sesame seeds
200 g	Plain unsweetened yoghurt, additive-free
½	Cucumbers, peeled, split in half lengthways, seeds removed by scraping out with a teaspoon, flesh grated and squeezed dry (Main)
1 small handful	Mint leaves, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 190C.
2. Drop the silverbeet leaves into a large saucepan of boiling water. Boil until for 4 minutes or until well wilted. Remove from the heat, drain, cool under cold running water, drain again, squeeze dry and tease out the lumps. Reserve.
3. Brush a 30cm diameter ovenproof frying pan or cake tin with melted butter. Add breadcrumbs and rotate and shake so that the crumbs stick evenly to the butter. Reserve.
4. Heat the oil over moderate heat in a frying pan and add the onion, 4 cloves of the garlic and lemon peel. Fry gently without browning for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft.
5. Remove from the heat, place in a mixing bowl and cool. Add 1 tsp salt, the spices, chilli flakes, lamb, eggs and reserved silverbeet. Mix well. Add the feta and mix without breaking up the lumps of feta. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions.
6. Place 1 sheet of filo on a clean surface, brush with melted butter. Place another sheet on top. Divide lamb into 6 portions. Put 1 portion of the lamb mixture along one of the long sides of the buttered filo in a sausage shape. Fold the side in, then roll up like a sausage roll. Carefully bend the roll into a spiral and place in the pan or tin.
7. Repeat for the other 5 portions of lamb. Place them side by side in the pan so there are no gaps. Brush the top well with melted butter and sprinkle evenly with the sesame seeds. Place in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until well cooked.
8. Meanwhile, put the yoghurt, cucumber, remaining garlic and mint into a small bowl and mix well. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
9. Remove pies from the oven and serve with the yoghurt mixture.

More of Ray's Kiwi favourites

• Banana and coconut bread and butter pudding with hokey pokey icecream
  
• Kumara and smoked fish gratin