179/656 - Pine nut and meat pastries

I love cooking and it is a rare thing to hear me complain about a cooking process, no matter how time consuming or complicated it may be. But I must confess I have a particularly negative attitude when it comes to working with filo.

Filo has never been my friend. I am either busy ripping the sheets in half (not on purpose), or I get distracted while working and forget to cover it, letting piles go dry on the bench. My other filo party trick is to pull out a frozen pack of this evil pastry, and then unfold the sheets before they are ready, ripping the entire packs worth down the middle. And usually not even in a straight line. I realise that with more care I could avoid these issues. I am generally a very careful person, but for whatever reason filo continues to be my nemesis.   

Refusing to be beaten by a packet of paper thin pastry, I outsmarted my filo demons and made sure I had double the required quantity on hand before making this recipe. As I rolled up my little meaty triangles I smiled to myself each time I ripped a filo sheet in half, calmly selecting a new sheet from the massive pile I had on hand. Jules my little pastry monster was happy to assist with the digestive disposal of some of my accidents, and the happy chickens ended up with the rest. 

This cooking challenge will see me making shortcrust, lard and puff pastry but thankfully not filo. No doubt the challenge will throw up a few hurdles along the way but I am not sure I would have made it over that one unscathed.