Savoury Kadaif Hors d'Oeuvres

Last hametz recipe before Passover!

I suppose this is a kind of fusion cooking; or at least fusion between the need to get rid of hametz from the freezer before Passover and the inability to throw away precious ready-made kadaif pastry. I'm sure the Turks don't do this with kadaif.

As we didn't want one of the traditionally sweet Turkish or Greek recipes made with this special pastry, I tried something savoury instead, and kept it butter-free, for serving with a meat meal on Shabbat Hagadol.

I rubbed the pastry with olive oil and pressed it into muffin moulds, making a well in the middle of each one, which I filled with a mixture of:

• walnuts (finely chopped)
• onion (finely chopped)
• courgette (finely chopped)
• salt and pepper
• sugar
• paprika
• garlic
• a drizzle of olive oil
• a dollop of Heinz tomato ketchup

If I'd had minced meat on hand, I think I'd have added some to the filling for a little more body, though the chopped nuts did well enough on their own.

I baked them till golden and will be serving them with a rich beef and tomato gravy, as shown above, poured on just before serving so they don't get soggy. A thickened sauce would have been preferable, it just wasn't practical today.

The test-taste was delicious.