Apple Pie Samosas

I came across this recipe yesterday on the BBC Good Food website. It really is an Autumn/Winter/Christmas kind of recipe so I apologise for being unseasonable but I had to try it, especially when I calculated that they were about 76 calories each.

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:
2 cooking apples (approx 250-300g) , peeled, cored and chopped
50g caster sugar
1 tsp ground mixed spice
50g sultanas
4 sheets filo pastry
25g butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Place the apples, sugar, mixed spice and sultanas in a saucepan with 2 tbsp water and cook, covered, on a low heat for 10 mins or until the apples are soft, stirring once or twice. Tip into a shallow dish and spread out to cool slightly.

2. Cut a sheet of filo in thirds lengthways, then brush all three lightly with the melted butter so that they don't dry out.

3. Place a spoonful of the apple filling at the top of each strip, then fold over and over to form triangular parcels. 

 

4. Brush the baking sheet with a little of the melted butter. Place on a baking sheet and then brush the samosas with any remaining butter and left over sugar, mixed spice, water mix from cooking the apples.

5. Bake for 15-20 mins until crisp and golden. 

These went down very well. Mr VST said that they smelled of Christmas and he didn't mind at all that it is May! They make light, flavoursome, parcels of deliciousness and I can certainly recommend them with ice cream. 

Red Onion, Tomato and Mozzarella Filo Tart

We had lots of red onions and filo pastry left in the fridge so I decided to google to try and find a recipe to use up these ingredients. I came across this one for a slimming world caramelised onion, tomato and mozzarella filo tart. The recipe was so simple and it is very easy to make. I started making it as soon as I got back from work on Friday as I knew I was about to be called out again. I used up the filo pastry and folded over the edges, using a little water to stick them down. The end result was a really tasty filo pizza! I only had the chance to eat a tiny slice before being called out again. I took it with me for lunch on my Saturday call out instead. I wasn't actually all that hungry to be honest as I had been taken out for lunch to Rendezvous in Southernhay and had a delicious treat of pan fried polenta and wild mushrooms and then a very thick and chocolatey chocolate torte with coffee ice cream for pudding. It kept me going all day!!

Spinach and Feta Pie with Green Beans

I went for a five mile run this evening after work while Mr VST made his Spinach and Feta Pie. I have to say it was the best one yet. He put plenty of nutmeg in it this time and it was really flavoursome. mmmm.

Leek and Mushroom Strudels with Roasted New Potatoes

My second attempt at this meal was more successful as there was no alcohol involved! The parcels are really tasty and easy to make, sorry strudels. I used the left over feta cheese from the frittata earlier in the week and I didn't have quite enough leeks but they were still really tasty.

Heart shaped roastie - awww!

Low calorie chocolate tart

I have been calorie counting lately and I regularly search the BBC Good Food website for low calorie meals and it is usually great. As everyone counts calories differently and uses different brands of ingredients I then put the list into the myfitnesspal.com recipe tool and check before making whatever it is.

Being a sweet tooth I searched for low calorie puddings on the site and it came up with this chocolate tart. Awesome I thought! A whole decent sized chocolate tart full of chocolatey goodness with only 184 calories per portion.

So I popped the ingredients list into the recipe tool and it was coming out with something a lot higher. It was more like 250 calories a portion even when I split it into eight rather than four portions. I know that doesn't seem like a big difference but when you're on 1200 (net of exercise) calories a day believe me it makes all the difference.  I was quite disappointed. I have no idea how they came up with that calorie count unless the portions are a quarter of one of the four tarts. I had already drooled over this recipe and became obsessed with making it closer to the calorie count I was originally expecting. I couldn't mess with the main chocolatey ingredients of course but I thought I'd play with the pastry. Using eight sheets of filo pastry instead of the shortcrust I managed to get it down to 190 calories for a portion 1/8th of a whole big tart. That was more acceptable so on Tuesday evening, having returned home briefly I set about putting the filo pastry in layers in a tin and gathering all the ingredients for the middle. I knew I was going to be called out again but did not anticipate it being for quite so long. I returned home just after 10pm to find that Mr VST had made the filling and finished it off. A piece of chocolate tart was music to my weary soul when I returned home.

It is good and chocolatey, as you would expect when it has two bars of dark chocolate in it! You don't really need eight sheets of filo pastry and in fact you could probably make it without the pastry at all and it would make lovely chocolatey brownie-type things.

It's amazing how resourceful you become when you are calorie counting. I enjoy succeeding in the challenge of eating like a (vegetarian) king on such a low calorie budget. Maybe I'm just sad but it is rewarding to see the scales tipping back towards their pre-Christmas marker.

Chocolate Filo Tart - maybe a bit OTT with the filo?!

Spinach pie with peas

Mr VST made his spinach and feta pie again this evening. He complained that the oven needed cleaning and that he could smell something burning. Unfortunately it was his pie! He had turned the grill on instead of the oven and the top of his pie was rather black. It didn't make any difference to the taste of the pie thankfully and as we have been rather disorganised over the holidays the only thing to serve it with was frozen peas!

'Twas the night before Christmas...

..and all through the house lots of creatures were stirring and having a mini Christmas!

We had a mini Christmas with my brother on Christmas Eve because he was spending Christmas day with his girlfriend and her family. Our Christmas Eve included a lovely meal, present swapping and a game of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (girls vs boys, the boys won :()

The meat eaters had smoked salmon fillets and the veggies had leek, mushroom and goat's cheese strudels. This was all cooked by my wonderful mother but the recipe for the veggie strudels was from BBC Good Food and can be found here. Both options were served with roasted new potatoes and green beans.

...and for pudding a lovely trifle. It was a Delia recipe with bananas in and home made custard. 

We didn't forget Father Christmas of course and left him some Bailey's, a home made sweet and one of my cinnamon mince pies as well as a carrot for Rudolph.

Spinach pie with green beans and tomatoes

I'm a little late blogging last night's meal as we have a friend staying this week.

Mr VST made his delicious spinach and feta pie using filo pastry and I experimented with the side by sauté-ing some green beans with a tin of tomatoes, some sugar and balsamic vinegar. It was a good experiment!











- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone