Beef

Greek minced beef filo tarts with a rich tomato sauce topped with a creamy cheese sauce

Filo pastry is so versatile and can be used in sweet and savoury dishes. I like to make these into individual tarts. Unless you score filo pastry before cooking, it is difficult to cut without it falling to pieces.

There are usually about 8-10 sheets of filo in a packet and it doesn’t keep very well, so I usually have a filo batch bake and freeze a few snacks/pies/desserts for another day.

Here are some suggestions –

Greek minced beef filo tarts with a rich tomato sauce topped with a creamy cheese sauce

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 4 sheets filo pastry
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 250 g minced beef
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • 1 stick celery, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 250 g chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 50 g red wine
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • salt and pepper to taste

Creamy cheese sauce

  • 125 ml full fat milk
  • 20 g butter
  • 15 g plain flour
  • 80 g strong cheddar cheese
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Brush 4 individual pie tins with 1 tbsp oil. Brush the filo sheets with the remaining oil and cut each one into four. Line each tin with 4 sheets, layering them at angles, and press down gently.
  • Heat the remaining olive oil and fry the onion, carrot, celery and garlic gently until just starting to brown.
  • Add the minced beef and break it up so the mixture is well mixed.
  • Once the meat is browned add the tomatoes, tomato paste, spices and the red wine.
  • Bring to a boil and allow the sauce to simmer gently for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Cool.
  • Prepare the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the flour and beat to mix well.
  • Add the milk slowly stirring constantly. Simmer until the sauce thickens then add 60g of the cheese. Cook until the cheese has melted and the sauce is thick. Season.
  • Heat oven 180C / Gas mark 4. Divide the beef sauce between the pie tins. Top with the cheese sauce and sprinkle ove the remaining cheese.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Notes

Delicious served with a Greek salad. If you can get Kefalotyri cheese it works really well in the cheese sauce. 

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