Name: Chickpea, chard & feta puffs with green harissa
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 200g Swiss chard, stalks removed and finely chopped, leaves finely chopped; 5 spring onions, thinly sliced; 370g jarred chickpeas, drained and roughly mashed; 75g Ottolenghi Green Harissa, plus extra to serve; 3½ tbsp panko breadcrumbs; 125g gruyère, grated; 150g feta, roughly crumbled; 1 egg; 1 pack all butter, ready rolled puff pastry (325g); plain flour, for shaping; 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Chickpea, chard & feta puffs with green harissa

Starter Vegetarian

Serves 4, as a snack

Prep 20 min

Cook 40 min

Bourekas are amongst my favourite things to eat. Little parcels of dough crisped with hot oil, stuffed with any number of savoury ingredients, topped with a sprinkle of sesame. This is my cheesy take, using puff pastry instead of filo and swiss chard instead of the more commonly used spinach. Our Green Harissa lends a real brightness here: cutting through the richness of the gruyere and feta and adding a distinctive spicy zing.

Ingredients

2 tbsp	olive oil
200g	Swiss chard, stalks removed and finely chopped, leaves finely chopped
5	spring onions, thinly sliced
370g	jarred chickpeas, drained and roughly mashed
75g	Ottolenghi Green Harissa, plus extra to serve
3½ tbsp	panko breadcrumbs
125g	gruyère, grated
150g	feta, roughly crumbled
1	egg
1 pack	all butter, ready rolled puff pastry (325g)
	plain flour, for shaping
2 tbsp	sesame seeds

Method

Add the oil to a large sauté pan and place over a medium heat. Add the chard stalks and salad onions and cook for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the chard leaves and cook for 4-5 minutes more until wilted and cooked through. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Add the chickpeas, green harissa, breadcrumbs and both cheeses to the chard mixture. Set aside 1 tbsp of the beaten egg (for the egg wash), then add the remaining egg to the chard and chickpea mixture and mix to combine.
Unwrap the puff pastry and lay it flat on a lightly floured surface. With a short side facing you, cut the pastry in 1/2 vertically, so you have 2 long strips. Divide the chard mixture in 1/2 and arrange evenly in a long line down the centre of each strip. Lift 1 edge of the pastry up and over to cover 1/2 the filling. Brush the remaining free edge with the egg wash and lift it up and over the filling, stretching it slightly if needed, to meet the other pastry edge, overlapping slightly to make sure that it sticks.
Roll the log over so that it sits seam-side down and press down to flatten lightly. Repeat with the other pastry strip and the remaining filling. Cut both logs into 3 to make 6 logs. Brush each log with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
Arrange on the lined tray, then cut 4 slits across the top of each log. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Some filling might burst out, but that is part of the charm. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes, then serve, with extra green harissa for dipping.