Cranberry and Goats Cheese Filo Parcels

These golden, tasty crispy parcels are perfect for Christmas parties or as a delicious starter to Christmas dinner. They can be made and frozen ahead of time and simply cooked on the day, perfect for this busy time of year.

Makes: 20
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time 10 – 12 minutes

Ingredients

250g fresh cranberries
100g caster sugar
Juice and grated zest of half an orange
Filo pastry (10 x30 x26cm sheets approx 220g packet)
200g goats cheese
8 tbsp olive oil
Rocket leaves

Method

- Place the cranberries in a saucepan with the sugar and add the orange zest and juice. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 8-10 minutes until the cranberries have softened. Leave to cool.
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C / Gas Mark 6. Make the parcels by placing a sheet of filo pastry on the work surface (keep the remaining sheets covered in cling film). Brush the sheet with a little of the olive oil, place another sheet on top, brush evenly with a little more oil. Cut into four squares.
- Place a 10g chunk of goats cheese in the middle of each square and top with a small teaspoonful of the cranberry sauce, fold the pastry around the filling and scrunch the top so it holds together, brush all over with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Continue until you have used all the filo sheets and goats cheese. Reserve the remaining cranberry sauce to serve with the parcels.
- Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve warm with an extra spoonful of the cranberry sauce, garnish with rocket leaves.

Cooks Tips

-The goats cheese can be replaced with blue cheese.

-To freeze, place uncooked parcels on a tray and open freeze before carefully covering in foil. Cook from frozen for a few minutes more.

Recipe and image courtesy of www.berryworld.com