Chorizo, Goat’s Cheese And Cumin Borek

This wonderful combination of smoky, spiced chorizo and cumin-spiked, creamy goat’s cheese is a winner. Chorizo really is such a fantastic ingredient and its capability to deliver bags of flavour to anything it comes into contact with always makes it a crowd-pleaser and a refrigerator staple in my household. 

Serves 4-6

2 x 200g cured (not cooking) chorizo sausages, skinned and cut into chunks

2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted

350g rindless soft goat’s cheese

vegetable oil

6 sheets of filo pastry (each about 48cm x 25cm)

1 tbsp milk or water

beaten egg, to glaze

1 tsp nigella seeds

•  Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

•  Put the chunks of chorizo into a food processor and process until they are minced as finely as possible. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add the cumin seeds and goat’s cheese, and mix together until evenly combined.

•  Brush the base of a 24cm round ovenproof dish or cake tin with a little vegetable oil. Lay a pastry sheet lengthways in the dish with the ends overhanging, then lay another pastry sheet widthways in the same way.

•  Divide the chorizo filling in half. Add one half to the filo base and smooth it right to the edges to cover the base evenly.

•  Fold another pastry sheet in half to create a double thickness and lay it over the filling, then repeat with a second pastry sheet.

•  Brush the pastry with the milk or water, then top with the remaining filling, pushing and patting it into place to evenly coat the pastry. Fold the overhanging pastry into the centre, then gently crumple up the remaining 2 pastry sheets and arrange them on top.

•  Brush all the exposed pastry and edges with beaten egg and sprinkle over the nigella seeds. Bake for 25-30 minutes until deep golden brown. Serve immediately.