Feta Cheese in Pastry with Honey & Sesame Seeds

I’m a huge fan of all things Greek, in particular the food.  When I go on holidays sure I like a bit of culture but for me it’s all about the food and the people – this for me defines the essence of a country (and the weather of course is a draw but that’s obvious right :))

The No.1 starters we would have when eating out was Saganaki (fried Cheese) and Cheese in Pastry (we would order one of each for sharing :)) then we got to try both.So last Saturday I felt like I needed something Greek and thought I would try to replicate our favourite starter – Feta Cheese in Puff Pastry smothered with honey and sesame seeds.  So today I’m taking you to Greece (well not really but at least a little taste of Greece)  Think fluffy layers of pastry, surrounding tasty cheese thats smothered in delicious golden honey and topped with toasted sesame seeds.

This is a cracker of a recipe because we had it for dinner with a side salad but I think it would make a super dinner party starter. The best bit is this only cost €2.28 with ingredients from Lidl (€1.39 for the Feta and €0.89 for the pastry) – OMG.  Yes you heard right €2.28.  This was a dinner for 2 of us but if you halved the cheese in 4 it would be sufficient for a dinner party starter for 4 people for €2.28.

Ingredients

200g Feta Cheese (I used Eridanous) – from Lidl (1.39)

375g Ready Rolled Puff Pastry (Chef Select) – from Lidl (0.89)

Few tbsps Olive Oil

2-3 tbsps Sesame Seeds

2-3 tbsp Honey

How To

We’re all a bit time squeezed these days so if your looking for a quick and easy pastry option check out this ready rolled puff pastry from Lidl.  Don’t be inflicting unnecessary work on yourself.  During the time you’d spend making pastry you could sit back, relax and enjoy a glass of wine – I know which one I’d rather be doing 🙂  I love this one because you don’t even need to roll out the pastry so leave that rolling pin in the cupboard where it belongs.

So let’s get started – take the pastry out of the fridge about 10 mins before you start.

I figured that the full block of Feta was quite thick so I sliced it in two to give me 2 perfectly formed blocks. Halve the pastry and brush it with olive oil, place the block of feta on to one half of the pastry and fold it over until its all wrapped up like a little gift.  Then brush it all over the outside with olive oil.

Pop the 2 feta wrapped pastries into a pre-heated oven at 200 for about 35-40 mins and remove from the oven when its golden brown.

While the Feta Pastries are tanning themselves and getting ready in the oven put the hob on a medium heat and pop the sesame seeds into a frying pan to roast them for about 1 minute while stirring but be careful not to burn them.  You don’t have to roast them but this way they release the most amazing nutty earthy scent.  There’s a huge difference when you roast them and you get a much deeper, richer flavour and it’s all about getting the fullest flavour in the easiest way.

When you take the pastries out drizzle them with delicious golden honey and toss the sesame seeds over them.   That’s it.  Serve with a side salad for a super tasty lunch or dinner.

This is such an easy, cheap and delicious dinner or if you split the feta into 4 pieces this would make an impressive starter and all for €2.28 – what a bargain!