Bettina's Kitchen Pistachio, Date & Custard Filo Parcels

From her amazing book Celebrate, Bettina Campolucci Bordi shares her delicious Pistachio, Date & Custard Filo Parcels recipe. It is a quick solution, with maximum flavour and minimum effort.

Prep Time
1 Hour
Bake Time
30 Minutes
Servings

For The Filo Parcels

  • vegan butter or coconut oil, for greasing vegan butter or coconut oil, for greasing
  • 200g Medjool dates, pitted and torn 200g Medjool dates, pitted and torn
  • 1 vanilla pod (bean), split and the seeds scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract 1 vanilla pod (bean), split and the seeds scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
  • 70g pistachios 70g pistachios
  • 2 packets, (500g) of ready-made filo pastry 2 packets, (500g) of ready-made filo pastry

For the Custard

  • 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch) or 2 tablespoons dairy-free custard powder 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch) or 2 tablespoons dairy-free custard powder
  • 360 ml (whole plant milk (I prefer full-fat oat milk) 360 ml (whole plant milk (I prefer full-fat oat milk)
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1⁄4 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 vanilla pod (bean), split and the insides scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract 1 vanilla pod (bean), split and the insides scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
  • 2 tablespoons Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Sugar 2 tablespoons Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Sugar
  • zest of 1⁄2 lemon zest of 1⁄2 lemon

Instructions

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

For the Filo Parcels
  1. To make the filo parcels, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas 4). Grease an oven tray and get on with blitzing the pitted dates, vanilla and pistachios in a food processor or blender until you have a sticky mixture.
  2. Take your filo pastry out of the packet and cut the sheets into strips (about 7 cm/3in thick) lengthwise.
  3. Add a generous layer of custard and a layer of the date and pistachio mix on the right corner of the strip and fold diagonally to the left, enclosing the filling and forming a triangle.
  4. Fold again along the upper crease of the triangle. Keep folding in this way until you reach the end of the strip.
  5. Brush the outer surface with melted butter with a pastry brush, cover the whole of the top layer of pastry with the melted vegan butter/coconut oil, drizzle with maple syrup, then sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and brown sugar and place on the pre-greased oven tray.
  6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
  7. Once the filo parcels are cooked, remove from the oven and serve hot with the no-churn ice-cream (if using), or leave to cool to room temperature before you serve.
For the Custard
  1. Whisk the cornflour/custard powder, milk, turmeric, vanilla and sugar together in a small saucepan.
     
  2. Bring to the boil on the stovetop while stirring until the custards thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, then remove from the heat.
     
  3. Stir in the lemon zest and set aside to cool.

Chef's Tip

Check out our homemade ice cream recipes for the ultimate combination.