Mini Pastilla's

This recipe was put together for a birthday party I catered for - it was a cold buffet and we wanted something that minimised mess and cutlery, but wasn't the traditional curly sandwich-type fare.  So I came up with this - the mini pastilla.  I got the idea from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Cookbook- he makes a larger one using rabbit, with scrambled egg and coriander under the lid.  The principle of this is much the same - it's a small filo parcel with slow-cooked spicy meat inside, dusted with icing sugar - very very edible, and great hot or cold.

Ingredients
(makes about 8-10 parcels - depending how big you do them!)
400g lamb - any cut will do, except breast - chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large (pref banana) shallot, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped and crushed
sprig of thyme

1 Bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

1 glass red wine
50g Dried apricot
Honey
2 tsp Ras el Hanout spice blend (you can get this from Asian supermarkets, or otherwise this is a typical blend)
1 tsp Allspice

1/2 a grated nutmeg

Pinch of chili powder (optional)
1 pint good veg stock

1 pack of filo pastry
A few fresh coriander leaves

Butter for brushing onto pastry

Icing sugar for dusting

Brown the meat in the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, sealing on all sides, then remove from the pan.  Add the onions and garlic, then the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and thyme, frying until the onions are lightly covered.  

Return the meat to the pan and add the red wine, frying until the alcohol is cooked off, then add the apricots, honey, and other spices and a few fresh coriander leaves.  Stir to combine, remove the bay leaf, thyme sprig and cinnamon stick, add the honey, then cover the lot with the stock and cook on a low heat for a couple of hours, until the meat is falling apart and the juices are thick (add water or more stock if it's too dry and the meat isn't cooked).  Once cooked, transfer to a shallow dish an allow to cool.

To make the parcels, take one filo sheet and divide it into 4 (each sheet will make 2 parcels - you can just half the sheets to make larger ones).  Brush butter on to one side of one sheet and lay another at 90 degrees to it (making a rough cross).  Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture into the middle and fold the pastry layers over the top, sealing with more butter.  Continue until you run out pastry or meat - you don't have to be particularly neat, it's sposed to look rustic...

Once you've made them all, bake them on a tray until the pastry's golden - should be about 20 mins.  If you're serving them straight away, dust them immediately with the icing sugar.  If you're serving them cold, wait until they're cool, then dust them.

Then eat them.