Lamb & Yoghurt Pie

Recipe courtesy of Plated: A lifetime love affair with food by Tina Duncan, Camberdown Press, RRP $60.00

This recipe was inspired by a trip to Santorini in Greece a few years ago. A wonderful combination of flavours and a lighter version of a traditional Kiwi pie.

Serves: 8
Prep time: 20mins
Cook time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 kg lamb mince
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tblsp tomato paste
• 2 lemons, grated zest and juice
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 70g toasted pine nuts
• 12 sheets filo pastry
• 100g clarified butter, or ghee
• 500g unsweetened Greek yoghurt

1 shallow tin, approximately 30x22x3 cm

Method

1. Heat oil in a large frypan, add onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add lamb and brown thoroughly, breaking up clumps as it cooks with a wooden spoon. Add cinnamon, tomato paste, lemon, salt and pepper, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add parsley, breadcrumbs and pine nuts and set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Remove filo pastry from packet and count out 12 sheets. Place pastry on bench and cover with a barely damp tea towel. Brush one sheet of filo pastry lightly with the butter. Place another layer of pastry on top, brushing with butter as you go, and repeat until you have six sheets.
3. Grease shallow tin and line base and sides with the first six sheets of pastry. Fill with half the lamb mixture. Spread with yoghurt and top with remaining lamb.
4. Brush remaining sheets with butter and scrunch individually and place on top of the pie to completely cover.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.

TIPS

• Can be made ahead of time and reheated but best eaten on the day it is made.

• To clarify butter easily, melt in microwave and let it settle. When cool, refrigerate until it sets. The clarified butter will have hardened on the top leaving the butter milk liquid on the bottom. Remove the clarified butter and discard the liquid.

• My preferred New Zealand brand of filo pastry is Timo’s.