Moroccan Lentil and Sesame Filo Pie

We know — even more pastry! But it really is the most incredibly delicious vegetarian meal. Ras el hanout is a blend of Moroccan spices which you can buy easily in shops, or you can make your own. It is typically a blend of cardamom, clove, cinnamon, chilli, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, peppercorn and turmeric. Some recipes can contain over 100 different spices!

Ingredients Serves 3-4

20ml vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 courgette, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2-3 heaped tbsp ras el hanout
1 large potato, peeled and diced
150g lentils, well rinsed and drained
500ml vegetable stock
6 peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
80g butter, melted
25g sesame seeds
8 sheets filo pastry

Method

On a medium heat, in a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion and carrot and cook for a few minutes, then add the courgette and garlic and continue to cook until the onions are translucent and the vegetables soft
Add the ras el hanout and cook for a couple more minutes, stirring all the time, then add the potato, lentils stock and tomatoes. Stir and leave to simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, partially covered, stirring from time to time, until the lentils are cooked and the liquid reduced right down. Add some salt and pepper and taste, adjust as necessary
Leave the lentils to cool right down
Preheat the oven to 190°C
Brush a little of the melted butter into a 24cm oven proof frying pan, and sprinkle over the sesame seeds
Cut the sheets of filo pastry in half, so they resemble A5 sheets. Start layering the filo pastry into the frying pan; a sheet at a time. Do this by laying one sheet (imagine a piece of paper in portrait orientation so the long edge is going out of the pan) off centre so that half of the sheet is laying over the edge of the pan.
Brush with some of the melted butter, put the next sheet of pastry overlapping the first sheet by about a third. Then repeat with the rest of the pastry sheets until you have gone around the pan once (you will need to be working fairly quickly so the pastry does not dry too much)
Next, put the filling into the pan
Start folding the edges of the pastry that are overlapping the pan, back into the pan on top of the filling, brushing with melted butter between each sheet as you do. Once all the sheets are folded back on top, brush with a little more melted butter
Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked through
Invert the pie onto a plate large enough to accommodate it and cut into wedges, serve with some yoghurt sauce and green salad