These crispy pastries are a tasty way to use up your beetroot leaves and be more sustainable in the kitchen by reducing food waste and eating all your beets from root to tip. Beetroot leaves have a buttery consistency very similar to English or baby spinach although they have their own sweet beet flavour.
Sustainable storage and preparation tips to eat all your beets
To get the most out of my beetroot and use up all the good bits I like to prepare and store my beets straight after I get home from the market.
Roots: roast the roots for beetroot dip or beetroot salad, or reserve the roots for making beetroot sauerkraut.
Stems: pickle the stems and keep them in the fridge – which intensifies the sweet beet flavour and adds spiced crunch to tacos, burgers and sandwiches.
Leaves: wash and store the beetroot leaves to be used in salads or cooked in recipes in a similar manner to spinach, such as these filo triangles. Wash the leaves well to remove any dirt, and store in the fridge in a container or a beeswax wrap until you need them.
If you prepare the beetroot this way ahead of time I find it lasts a lot better than placing the whole raw bunch in the fridge. Using methods like roasting, pickling, fermenting and saving leaves for filo parcels or salads lets you preserve and intensify flavours and eat all your beets.
Beetroot leaf & feta filo triangles
Print RecipeIngredients
- Beet leaf filo parcels: 1 bunch of beetroot leaves
- 120 grams kale, or English spinach (optional – use if your beetroot bunch is on the small side)
- 1 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 nutmeg grated
- Zest of 1 lemon, reserve the rest for making lemon wedges to serve
- 150 grams feta cheese
- Herbs: 1 bunch dill, 1 bunch parsley, handful of seasonal fresh herbs such as tarragon or marjoram plus extra to serve
- 1 handful black kalamata olives, pitted
- Sheets of filo pastry
- ½ cup olive oil for brushing the filo pastry
- Chia seeds, or poppy or black or white sesame seeds
- Herbed yoghurt: ½ cup Greek strained yoghurt, handful fresh seasonal herbs such as tarragon, marjoram, thyme, dill, parsley, salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Beet leaf filo parcels: Preheat oven to 200 C
Take filo pastry out of the fridge to come to room temperature
Wash the beetroot leaves and kale or spinach leaves if using
Cut them finely
Chop the onions and garlic
Cook the onions and garlic in a little olive oil and salt and pepper until beginning to caramelise
Add the beetroot leaves and kale or spinach if using and heat until the leaves are wilted
If there is a lot of water add the mix to a colander and allow excess water to drain
Place in a large bowl and add the freshly chopped herbs, olives, crumbled feta cheese, lemon zest, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Lay out filo pastry on a clean work surface
Lay one sheet at a time in a new stack and brush with a pastry brush with the olive oil until you have 3 sheets one on top of the other
Take a sharp knife and divide the stacked sheets into 4 vertical sections or strips
Add 1-2 tablespoons of filling to the end of each strip
Roll the first corner of each strip over the filling to form a triangle – continue to fold into further triangles until the strip is exhausted
Place on a baking paper lined baking tray
Brush with olive oil and dust with chia, poppy or sesame seeds
Bake 200 C for 20-30 minutes or until golden
Serve with fresh seasonal herbs, herbed yoghurt and lemon wedges
Herbed yoghurt: Add the yoghurt, herbs, pepper and salt to a blender and blend until well combined
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