Tunisian Brik: Wafer Thin with peppered gbejna and crispy organic sage

Tunisian Brik with crispy organic sage.  Photos taken during a live tv show by CJ Baldacchino

‘Organic sage came in abundance in my organic box from Sicily by Barbuto this week.  The sage in this recipe has been left whole and fried in olive oil, then it is placed on each ‘brik’ and baked for 10 minutes.  Fried then roasted sage leaves are amazingly delicious’

You will need:

2 sheets of filo pastry
1 gbejna, sliced
50g nuts of your choice [I used home made dukkah]
If you are using plain nuts add 1/8 teaspoon coriander
a handful of fresh parsley, very finely cut
8 basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Cut the peppered gbejna into thin slices.

Chop the fresh parsley finely.

Add to the crushed nuts.  Then add the spices.

Mix.

In a pan heat some olive oil and cook the basil leaves on both sides.  Remove from heat then place on a kitchen towel to absorb the access oil.

Lay a sheet of filo on a clean dry surface.  Brush the filo with olive oil and place a teaspoon of filling  leaving a space of around 6 cm between each teaspoon of filling

Cover with another sheet of filo.  Use a rolling pin to gently press down on the filo and flatten the filling to get wafer think brik.

Use a sharp knife to cut the sheets into squares with the filling in the centre of each square.  Fold the squares into 2.

Prepare a baking tray by brushing it with olive oil.  Place the triangle pastries on top of the baking sheet.

Bake in a very hot oven for 10 minutes.  Serve hot or cold appetizers with drinks.

Tunisian style Brik, wafer thin and ideal finger food.  Photos taken during a live tv show by CJ Baldacchino

My organic sage comes from Barbuto, olive oil by Costa d’Oro, peppered gbejna by Big Fresh.

Handmade sweets from Tunisia, with thanks to Deyma Shop Gzira for the display during our live show