40 mins
Not Too Tricky
makes 14
About the recipe
Lots of people have leftover cooked lamb at Easter, and this is a really fun way to make the most of it. By using a humble packet of shop-bought filo, you can transform leftover roast meat into a crunchy, hot, delicious canapé that’s sure to put a smile on everyone’s faces. I’m also riffing on a salsa verde to make a mint dipping sauce and reheating leftover gravy for next-level dunking – so good!
Ingredients
500g leftover roast lamb or roast beef
500ml leftover gravy
2 bunches of fresh mint (60g)
1 x 270g pack of filo pastry
½ a clove of garlic
1 lemon
1 tablespoon capers
2 anchovies in oil, from sustainable sources
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Top Tip
VEGGIE LOVE
Swap in 500g of leftover nut roast (or falafel) and cook exactly the same way, binding with veggie gravy, if needed.
LOVE YOUR FREEZER
If you’d like to save these lamb cigars for a rainy day, they also cook really well from frozen (but only if you haven’t frozen the leftover lamb already). Simply follow the recipe up to Step 4, then freeze for up to 3 months. Bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 for 20 minutes, or until crisp, golden and hot through.
EASY SWAPS
If you don’t have leftover roast meat, you could use leftover stewed meat – simply ditch the gravy in Step 1 as you won’t need to bind it all together.
FLAVOUR BOOST
If you have any leftover roast veg, you can chop these up and add them to the roast meat mix too – potatoes, carrots and peas would all work well.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS
Use the leftover mint stalks to make a lovely mint tea.
Method
- For the lamb filling, shred the leftover roast meat in a large bowl. Pour over the gravy (you might need to heat it up slightly, to loosen it), then roughly chop and stir through a few sprigs of fresh mint until combined (reserving the rest of the mint for later). Taste, then season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper, if needed.
- Lay the sheets of filo out in front of you, with the long edges nearest to you. Lightly brush them all with oil and then cut each sheet into two fat strips.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Place 2 tablespoons of filling near the bottom of each strip. One at a time, shape the filling into a neat cylinder, leaving a 2cm border at the bottom and sides. Fold in the sides and roll them up, sealing the edges with a little oil.
- Repeat until they're all wrapped up, spacing them out on a large baking tray lined with baking paper as you go. Brush with a little more oil then chill until needed, or bake right away for 20 minutes, or until crisp, golden and hot through.
- Meanwhile, pick the baby mint leaves and reserve for garnish. To make the mint sauce, peel the garlic, then finely grate with the lemon zest on a board. Finely chop with the capers, anchovies and remaining mint until fine, mixing as you go. Transfer to a serving bowl and add 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (I sometimes like to add a mixture of olive oil and oil from the anchovy jar), 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and the mustard.
- When you’re almost ready to serve, heat up the remaining gravy until piping hot, loosening with a little water, if needed.
- Scatter the reserved baby mint leaves over the lamb cigars and serve with the hot gravy and mint sauce, for dunking.
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