With Western Easter coming this Sunday, followed by Orthodox Easter a week later, we naturally start thinking about the food we will serve and share at our Easter table. The day calls for something a little special and, with that in mind, I created this recipe for a Spiced Lamb Filo Tart with Pine Nuts and Currants. Not only does it looks festive and beautiful, but it makes for the most delicious appetizer to share while waiting for the main course!
The Three Main Components of the Spiced Lamb Filo Tart with Pine Nuts and Currants
You can break down this dish into three parts, all of which can be made ahead of time and assembled just before serving which makes it ideal for dinner parties when you do not have too much time to “fuss” over your food.
- The first part is the filo shell of the tart
- The second is the delicious and slightly spiced ground lamb filling
- The last one is the fresh and bright topping of the tart
Ingredients for the Filo Shell & the filling
- Filo pastry: nothing beats the convenience of a package of filo dough in your refrigerator — it offers endless possibilities for savory and sweet dishes that you can put together in no time!
- Ground Lamb: I prefer American lamb which I find that it has a less strong flavor than New Zealand or Australian. You can easily substitute ground beef for the lamb, if you prefer
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: for cooking the meat and brushing on the filo
- A variety of spices: ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes
- Tomatoes: fresh and canned are both used in this recipe!
- Shallots and Garlic
- Fresh Parsley
- Dried Fruit: for a pop of sweetness I used dried currants, but you can easily substitute with raisins. If you do, however, remember that they need to be chopped
You can make the delicious filling ahead of time, even the day before and just gently reheat it before serving.
Ingredients for the Topping
- Greek Feta cheese: cubed or slightly crumbled
- Tomato: seeded & diced
- Shallot (or, a small red onion)
- Parsley (or, mint if you prefer)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Pine nuts: toasted
The topping can be assembled up to an hour before using. The pine nuts are best kept separate so as to retain their crunch.
How to Assemble Spiced Lamb Filo Tart with Pine Nuts and Currants
- Once the meat mixture is ready, remove the filo from its package, get some olive oil and a brush, and get started.
- We only need four sheets of filo for this recipe, which we will cut in half, to make a total of 8 sheets. We line the tart pan with them, fold over the edges, prick the bottom with a fork (so the filo does not puff up while baking). The filo base can be baked earlier in the day and set aside to assemble later.
- Once the tart shell is ready, we add the (room temperature) meat filling and place it back in the oven for a few minutes to warm it through.
- Assembly is easy, just top the meat filling with the tomato and Feta cheese topping, sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts, and it is ready to enjoy!
✨Besides making it as part of your Easter table, you can also serve this filo tart as a light meal, next to your favorite seasonal salad. It is so, so good! ✨
A few tips about the different kinds of filo
- Filo comes in different thicknesses: the number you see on a box of filo indicates how thick it is. The lower the number, the thinner and more delicate the filo. Lower numbered filo requires a lighter touch with the pastry brush to avoid tearing. The most common numbers are #4 (thin and pliable) and #7 (slightly thicker, a bit easier to work with).
- Filo comes in different sizes: some packages have large sizes of filo (13″ x 18″), suitable for larger pans, and some packages have smaller sizes of filo (9″ x 13″), for smaller pans. If you are using a smaller pan but can only find the larger-sized filo, just cut the larger sheets in half.
- The weight of the filo: no matter what the size or the thickness, the weight of a filo package in the U.S. is always going to be one pound. This means that the box with the thinner filo will have more sheets while the box with the thicker filo will have fewer!
This recipe is a collaboration with Fillo Factory. You can find this favorite filo dough (along with puff pastry) at Whole Foods and several small local stores. I love the quality of the Fillo Factory products and I always make sure to stash a couple of boxes in the freezer!
- For the filo base:
- 4 sheets filo, thawed and at room temperature
- --- --- olive oil for brushing
- For the filling:
- 2 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 med. shallots, minced (or, one small red onion)
- 3 med. garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb. ground lamb (or, ½ lb. ground lamb and ½ lb. ground beef)
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- ¾ - 1 tsp. sea salt
- ¼ - ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 sm. tomato, (like Roma), seeded and minced
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup currants
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
- For the topping:
- 1 sm. tomato, seeded and minced
- 1 med. shallot, minced
- 2 TBSP. fresh parsley, minced
- ¼ cup Greek Feta cheese, cut into small cubes, or, crumbled
- 2 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 2 TBSP. pine nuts, toasted
- Place a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When it is hot, add the shallots. Gently cook it for 3 minutes, or, until softened and then add the garlic, cooking for one more minute. To the sauteed shallot and garlic add the ground lamb (or, lamb and beef combination), stir to combine, and cook for 5-6 minutes. When the meat is browned, add the spices and cook for one more minute.
- Once the meat is nicely browned and you have added your spices, add the crushed tomatoes, minced tomato, and the water and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce is absorbed by the meat. Towards the end of the cooking, fold in the currants and fresh parsley. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
- Turn on the oven to 375° F.
- Remove four sheets of filo from the package, returning the rest to the package and into the refrigerator. Brush the first sheet lightly with some olive oil then place a second sheet on top of the fist and brush it with olive oil as well. Repeat with a third and a fourth sheet, creating a stack of the four sheets, on a cutting board. With a sharp knife cut through the stack of the four 13” x 18” filo sheets in the middle, and place them on top of each other, so you are left with a stack of eight, 13” x 9” filo sheets.
- Line a 12” x 4” tart pan with parchment paper. Arrange the stack of filo pastry so that it is centered on top of the parchment paper. Fold the extra filo over the edges of the pan to create a boarder, as you would with a pie crust. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
- Prick the base thoroughly then blind bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes, or, until the filo is crisp and lightly golden. (Hint: if you have pie weights, line the top of the filo with another piece of parchment, spread the weights over it, and bake for 8 minutes. If you do not have pie weights, use some dried beans.). Then, remove the parchment and bake for another minute or so until the top is lightly golden.
- While the filo base of the tart is baking, combine all the ingredients (except for the pine nuts) for the topping in a small bowl and set aside. To toast the pine nuts, preheat a small skillet over medium heat, add the pine nuts and stir, shaking every now and then until light golden. Watch carefully so as not to burn the pine nuts!
- Remove the tart pan from the oven and spread about ⅔ of the ground lamb filling over the base. (You will have some left over, which you can toss with some plain rice to make another delicious meal!).
- Return the lamb tart to the oven for just a couple of minutes to warm the meat through. Remove from the oven, top with the tomato and Feta mixture, sprinkle with some toasted pine nuts, and serve!
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An excellent idea Marilena, looks great! I plan to include in my Easter appetizers next Sunday! In the mean time happy double Easter celebrations to you and your family!
Thank you Marianna – I know you are going to like it! I have tried it with both ground lamb and ground beef and it is delicious! Happy Easter to the whole family next week:)
Very nice!
Thank you Kathy! So flavorful and not too difficult to make!
Excellent idea. I will definitely use it the soonest. Thank you
It is so delicious, I hope you get to try it:)
I have just found you! Your recipes look amazing. I am determined to try the Greek meatball one.
Thank you for your note, Joanne! I love am so glad you like my recipes, I hope you get to try the Greek meatballs! ???