Filo Pastry Cigars with Asparagus, Sesame and Parmesan

I love asparagus..I simply love it sooo much!

One of the tastiest vegetables of spring and I can honestly eat quite a lot at once. Especially with risotto OMG…Just as well I remembered! Next time I go out and get some I will make it that way…

This evening I was hungry and I wanted something to eat but not a full meal, just a snack..I had opened a bottle of nice wine and wanted a “mezedaki” to go with it..

I thought about some asparagus I had in the fridge and thought I need to concoct something with them.

I had some filo pastry also in the fridge which was left over from another recipe and thought it’s a shame to let it go to waste…

So I decided to make Filo Pastry Flutes filled with asparagus. I wanted a little cheese in them too so used some grated Parmesan I had loads of pepper and thought it needed something else but what?

In the end I found it…Black sesame seeds…not Black caraway (or Black cumin), be careful..black sesame seeds, wonderful and super tasty…

It didn’t take long to make…

See how I did it on paper and in the little video!!

Diffuculty: 1 of 3

Duration:20 mins prep and 20 mins baking

Serves:2-4

Ingredients

12 asparagus spears

2 teaspoons of black sesame seeds

40g grated parmesan cheese

Freshly grated black pepper

Melted butter for the filo pastry

3 sheets of filo pastry

Method

Clean the asparagus.

Break off the woody end of stems and then peel the bottom section.

Put them into a saucepan with cold water and boil them until they cut easily with your teeth (that’s important). It would be advisable to do them in a saucepan smaller than the asparagus stems so that the tips are sticking out of the water and therefore not cooked at the same rate as the rest of the stems.

Once cooked to your satisfaction (soft or slightly crunchy) place them in iced water to stop the cooking process.

Wipe them down with a paper towel and mop up the water on them.

Butter a small baking tray.

Toast the seam seeds and put in a mortar and pestle to break them up. Mix with the grated parmesan in a bowl and add as much pepper as you want- mix well.

Cut up each filo pastry sheet into approx 4 or 6 depending on how many stems you have.

Butter and sprinkle each filo of pastry with 1-2 tsps of the mixture.

Put a stem of asparagus on each sheet of filo in sections and roll them up into a flute shape.

Put them into the baking tray you prepared earlier.

Bake them in the oven at 170C fan forced for 20mins until they have turned golden brown.

Eat them immediately!