Lamb and sour cherry filo cigars with garlic, mint and walnut yogurt

Prep time: 1 hour, plus cooling time Cook time: 25 minutes

Makes 14

You can prepare the filling for these the day before and put it – cold – into the parcels before baking. You can deep-fry these but I think they get golden and crispy enough in the oven.

INGREDIENTS For the filo cigars

– 1 tbsp olive oil

– 400g minced lamb – 185g aubergine, cut

into 2cm cubes

– 1 small onion, finely

chopped

– 2 garlic cloves, finely

chopped

– ½ tsp cinnamon

– ½ tsp coriander

– 1 tsp cumin

– ⅓ tsp cayenne – generous grating of

nutmeg

– 50g sour cherries, soaked in boiled water and drained

– 2 tbsp tomato purée

– 2 tbsp chopped

coriander

– 2 preserved lemons, flesh removed from the inside (discard this) and skin finely chopped

– 250g filo sheets

– 100g butter

– sesame seeds, for sprinkling – black or white, or a mixture

For the dip

– ¾ ridge cucumber – 300g Greek yogurt

– 1 small garlic clove,

grated to a purée

– 40g walnuts, roughly

chopped

– leaves from 8 sprigs of

mint, torn

– ¼ tsp rose water

(optional) – a drizzle of extravirgin olive oil (optional)

– rose petals – use ones that haven’t been sprayed – torn

METHOD Preheat the oven to 200C/190C fan/gas mark 6.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan or sauté pan. Cook the lamb over a high heat so it can get a good colour. A lot of fat will come out of the meat. Lift the meat out into a bowl with a slotted spoon when it has browned.

Pour out all but two tablespoons of fat from the pan and add the aubergine. Fry it briskly, getting a good colour all over. Lift into the bowl with the lamb. Put the onion in the pan and cook it until soft, then add the garlic and cook for another two minutes. Add the spices, as well as salt and pepper, and cook for another minute.

Scrape the meat and aubergines back into the pan, followed by the sour cherries. Stir everything around – let the cherries pick up the flavours – then add the tomato purée and a couple of tablespoons of water. You might want to add more water – it depends on how wet or dry the mixture is. It shouldn’t be like sauce; it needs to be thicker than that.

Add the coriander and preserved lemon, and taste. You might want a little more cayenne, or seasoning. Leave to cool completely. If you are going to make the cigars later, put the meat in a bowl, cover and keep in the fridge.

Cut the filo sheets into rectangles measuring 30 x 14cm. Melt the butter in a pan. Remove from the heat. Brush one rectangle lightly with butter, place a second rectangle on top and brush it too.

Place 3-4 teaspoonfuls of filling along the short end of the rectangle (nearest to you), leaving room on each side. Roll into a tight cigar shape and, when halfway, fold

in the sides of the sheets to enclose the filling. Brush with butter as you go along. Finish rolling and put the cigar, seam-side down, on a baking sheet. Brush with more butter, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat – making one roll at a time – until the filo and filling are all used up. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

To make the dip, peel the cucumber and halve it, lengthways. Using a teaspoon, remove the seeds. Dice the remaining cucumber flesh. Put it in a sieve set over a bowl and sprinkle with a quarter of a teaspoon of salt. Toss this through then leave the flesh to drain for 15 minutes.

Mix all the other ingredients together, except the olive oil and rose petals. Stir the cucumber through and taste. I sometimes add a little extra-virgin olive oil but it’s up to you. Sprinkle on the petals.

Let the cooked filo cigars cool a little – the filling will be very hot – then put them on a plate and serve with the dip.