Asparagus and Feta Rolls

 

This is a Guest Recipe courtesy of Nigel Slater and published in

The Guardian Sun 26 May 2024 10.30 BST

 

An early summer afternoon in the kitchen and the sun is beaming through the skylights. An hour to two of gentle cooking without the ticking clock of making dinner. An afternoon in which I put together savoury biscuits as fragile as frost on a windowpane, and rolls of filo pastry so thin you could see their contents of asparagus and feta hiding within. This is cooking just for the joy of it.

The biscuits are mostly cheese and butter, held together with a little flour and egg, their filling lightly beaten cream cheese and soft-leaved herbs. They can carry a little warmth, too, in the form of ground Aleppo pepper or, should you prefer, smoked paprika. If you don’t want to sandwich them, custard-cream style, then the biscuits are good on their own, served with drinks.

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The asparagus is wrapped in buttered filo scattered with thyme leaves and a crumbling of feta. This time, I made them large enough to demand a knife and fork, but you could cut the spears in half and make smaller ones, more tightly rolled, to bring out before dinner. Either way, you will need a plate or an outstretched palm, to catch the crumbs of the buttery pastry that shatters as you eat.

I am not given to fiddly cooking, yet this was a summer’s afternoon of quiet pleasure. Handling the cheese biscuits carefully, spooning on a little filling, then tenderly pressing a second biscuit on top – a step apart from the quick supper that was to follow. Cooking need not always be about getting something on the table. Sometimes, cooking can be just for the love of it, a treat to yourself and, of course, others.

Asparagus and feta rolls

To keep the pastry crisp, place a baking sheet in the oven to warm when you switch the oven on. Place the tray of asparagus rolls on top of the hot tray. Use 1 to 3 spears of asparagus for each roll, depending on the thickness of your spears. Makes 8, serves 4. Ready in less than 1 hour

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Ingredients

 

• butter 70g

• filo pastry 2 sheets

• asparagus 8-24 spears, depending on their thickness

• feta cheese 300g

• thyme leaves 2 tbsp, chopped

• parmesan 8 tbsp, finely grated

 

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
    

2. Place a spare baking sheet in the oven to warm.
    

3. Soften the butter in a small saucepan.
    

4. Cut each sheet of filo into quarters.
    

5. Trim the asparagus.
    

6. Brush each of the filo rectangles with the melted butter – be generous – then crumble over 2 tbsp of the feta and the thyme leaves.
    

7. Sprinkle each with a scant tbsp of the grated parmesan, reserving a little to scatter over at the end.
    

8. Place 1 to 3 thick spears of asparagus, depending on thickness, on a pastry piece, positioning them almost at the edge of the long side nearest you, then roll up in the pastry. Place the roll, join-side down, on the parchment-lined baking sheet, then continue with the remaining pastry and asparagus.
    

9. Brush each one with a little more of the butter and dust with a little more parmesan.
    

10. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes until crisp and golden. Eat warm, while the pastry is still crisp and flaky.