Looking for a vegetarian dish for a special occasion? This Roasted Spiced Carrot and Feta Strudel will not disappoint.
Crisp flaky filo wrapped around roasted carrots flavoured with fennel, cumin, coriander and a hint of chilli and topped with feta cheese. These savoury pastries are really delicious and very moorish.
I like to think all the recipes I share on Recipes Made Easy are good, but every now and then I write a recipe which I think is really, really good.
I think these spiced roasted carrot and feta strudels is one such recipe. My family are all very much meat eaters, but this is one vegetarian dish they are more than happy for me to serve them again.
Easy to make, these are ideal for entertaining as they can be made ahead of time and then just popped into the oven when required.
I used Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference" barrel-aged feta to make these as I find that it has a very good flavour and is not too salty but any good feta will do.
They would also work well with a goats cheese. If you can get hold of some different coloured heritage carrots they would look a little more glamorous and upmarket but it is not necessary from a flavour point of view87.
This recipe makes two long strudels that are then cut into three portions serving six as a main meal. I would serve these with potatoes and seasonal vegetables or with a side salad, but this recipe would also make a good starter for 8 or reduce the quantities by half and just make one long strudel for 4 people.
More Vegetarian Dishes Made Easy
Roasted Spiced Carrot and Feta Studel step by step
Can I make this strudel vegan?
Its really easy to adapt this recipe to make it vegan. Simply use olive oil in place of the butter and replace the Feta cheese with a vegan white cheese.
Roasted spiced carrot and Feta Strudel
Ingredients
- 1¼ kg carrots
- 2 onions
- 6 tablespoon rapeseed or olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 50 g butter
- 8 sheets filo pastry
- lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint
- 250 g feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220℃ (200℃ fan)/425°F/gas mark 7. Cut the carrots into thick batons. Cut the onions into thick wedges. Spread out on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2tbsp of the oil.
- Place the salt and spices in a pestle and mortar and coarsely grind. If you do not have a pestle and mortar you can crush them between two spoons or on a board with the end of a rolling pin.
- Sprinkle most of the seasoned salt over the carrots and onions and toss the vegetables on the tray to coat with the oil and spices. Roast for 25-30 minutes until tender and lightly browned at the edges. Reduce the oven temperature to 200℃ (180℃ fan)/405°F/gas mark 6.
- Melt the butter with the remaining oil. Lay a clean tea towel on the work surface and place one sheet of filo on top with the longest end closest to you. Brush with some of the melted butter.
- Place another sheet of filo on top and brush with melted butter. Repeat until you have a stack of 4 sheets of filo.
- Spoon half of the roasted carrots and onions in a line along the furthest edge of the filo from you. leaving a gap at either end so that you can fold the pastry up over the filling. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the carrots and sprinkle with half of the chopped mint.
- Crumble half the feta over the carrots. Fold the ends of the pastry over the filling, then using the tea towel to help you, roll the strudel towards you to enclose the filling.
- Carefully transfer to a large baking sheet and brush the top with more melted butter. repeat to make a second strudel then sprinkle the remaining spiced last over the top of both strudels.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
dawn says
vegan recipes please
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Hi Dawn, Im not a vegan I'm not even vegetarian so I can not and would not want to compete with the many excellent vegan bloggers on the web. They do vegan much better than I can. My very good friend Kate at The Veg Space does some excellent vegan recipes check out her blog. That said you can easily make this vegan simply replace the butter with olive oil and the feta cheese with a vegan white cheese, so I have updated the post with this information.
Julia says
I made this for Christmas lunch (delaying our duck meal) after our vegetarian neighbour was unexpectedly on her own. It was delicious - replaced the chilli flakes with sweet smoked paprika and added some toasted pecans for crunch (last minute adjustments according to what I had). Really good option and will be passing on recipe to veggie friends. Thank you as ever for yummy interesting recipes
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
What a lovely vegetarian alternative to turkey. I'd very happily have this (instead... or maybe as well???) Eb x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Serve as a starter and you can have it as well 🙂
Rosemary says
I love carrots - especially with a bit of spice - but have never thought about putting them in a strudel. This looks like a lovely winter recipe!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Its great for entertaining and so tasty I love it.
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook says
Such a filling meal. Yum! Thanks for sharing, Jacqui!
jenny paulin says
this looks and sounds delicious Jacqueline. whats a great alternative to not only turkey at Christmas but the more traditional nut roast which adorns a lot of no meat eating tables at Christmas. x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Thanks Jenny. I was really happy with it and it is what I shall be serving to my vegetarian guest on Christmas day.