Pea, Mint and Feta Parcela with Tzatziki
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If you like Greek spanakopita, you’ll love these light, crispy filo pastry parcels. Instead of spinach, they’re packed with the classic combo of peas and mint along with plant-based feta! A refreshing, herby, cucumber tzatziki makes the perfect accompaniment.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: serves 10 1x
Ingredients
Parcels
- 3 3/4 cups (500 g) frozen garden peas
- 7 oz (200 g) vegan feta
- 1/4 cup (10 g) fresh mint leaves
- 1/3 cup (20 g) fresh parsley leaves
- 1/2 cup (25 g) fresh dill sprigs
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper
- 5 sheets filo pastry
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- White sesame seeds
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1/2 English cucumber
- 2 cloves garlic
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup (100 g) vegan yoghurt
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped mint
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped dill
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- For the parcels: preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC), and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Put the frozen peas in a medium bowl and cover with just boiled water. Leave to blanch for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the feta, mint, parsley, dill and lemon zest in a food processor. Add the blanched peas and pulse until you have a roughly chopped paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Open the packet of filo pastry and remove 5 sheets. Seal the pack to keep the remaining sheets from drying out. Lay the sheets of filo on a cutting board and slice in half lengthways to create 10 long strips of pastry.
- Brush one layer of filo with a little olive oil then top the upper right hand corner of the sheet with around 4 Tbsp of the pea mixture. Diagonally, fold over the top left hand corner, then repeat folding downwards to form a triangular parcel. Brush with oil then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining filo and filling.
- Place the parcels in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, stopping to flip the parcels half-way through.
- For the tzatziki, grate the cucumber into a sieve or paper towel and then squeeze it gently over the sink to remove excess moisture. Transfer to a medium bowl, then mince the garlic and add that to the bowl too. Mix in all the remaining ingredients. Serve the parcels while still hot alongside the tzatziki.
Notes
The trickiest part of this recipe is folding the parcels. I use a similar method to samosas, which involves making a triangle of pastry with the filling in the centre. It’s important to brush with oil before forming each parcel, to keep the pastry moist and pliable.
Don’t over-stuff the parcels with filling as they may leak or burst while baking. Around 4-5 tbsp should be more than enough, depending on the size of your filo pastry sheets.
Make sure the parcels aren’t touching when they bake, as this will stop them from puffing up and getting crispy all over.