Food security is a pretty big issue world wide these days and regular readers will know of my ongoing support for OzHarvest, the Australian food rescue organisation that does such a brilliant job of keeping fresh food out of land-fill and placing it in the bellies of those who need it. I’ve written about it a few times in the past – for my more recent posts about them check here and here.
OzHarvest launched here in Adelaide in 2011 and, with the support of local food donors like The Adelaide Convention Centre, the Adelaide Central Market and the Adelaide Oval, since then has simply gone from strength to strength. In their first five months in Adelaide they rescued 40,000 individual meals but they now pick up an average of 8000kg of food every week in the State and have delivered more than 2 million meals from 400 Adelaide food businesses.
Last week they were thrilled to announce the purchase of a third van for their fleet, meaning they will now be expanding to rescue and deliver surplus food in the southern suburbs. The expansion of OzHarvest into the southern region was made possible thanks to Colonnades Shopping Centre, which contributed $50,000 towards the project. Incredible support from industry leaders, Australian Hotels Association, and the generosity of the Jarvis Group and Home Grain Bakery (you might remember them from a post I wrote here) has allowed this project to come to life, helping to secure a brand new vehicle, an additional driver and operational support for the expanding food rescue program.
OzHarvestSA State Manager Hayley Everuss said the addition of the van, named Marigold, enables the organisation to provide a truly city-wide food rescue service within less than four years of OzHarvest beginning in Adelaide. Not a bad effort, Adelaide!
In the spirit of food rescue, I’ve come up with this tasty little recipe for fragrant Moroccan Lamb parcels which uses up leftover roast lamb, feta cheese and filo pastry. I used one of Woodside Cheese Wrights‘ newest products, their absolutely stunning Persian Feta, but any creamy feta will suffice.
Serve my Moroccan Lamb Parcels as finger food, or add some vegetables or salad and make it a main course – simple!
Moroccan Lamb, Sweet Potato & Feta Parcels
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely chopped cold lamb
- 2 cups cooked sweet potato, cooled and diced
- 4 spring onions chopped
- 1 tsp Ras el Hanout
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds, sliced
- 200 gms creamy feta cheese
- 1 pkt phyllo pastry
- Melted butter for brushing the pastry
- Icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line baking sheets with baking paper.
- Place all filling ingredients in a large bowl and combine gently, trying not to break up the feta too much.
- Open the phyllo pastry and cover with a damp tea towel to keep moist. You will need to work fairly quickly so that the pastry doesn't dry out.
- Using one sheet of phyllo at a time, brush all over with melted butter. Place a heaped tablespoon of filling in a line at the narrow edge of the pastry and fold pastry over. Fold in the sides and roll up to form a cigar shape. Place on baking sheet.
- Continue until all filling used up.
- Brush all the pastries with melted butter, place in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.
- Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Such a great organisation aren’t they.
And yum to these little parcels. A good dollop of a spicy chutney followed by a quick weekend siesta and I’d say lunch is ready 🙂
A very handy recipe Amanda! You can repurpose leftovers so creatively 🙂
Great post Amanda, OzHarvest certainly do an amazing job which I discovered first hand when I went to their session at Tasting Australia earlier this year where we cooked up some huge pots of soup and many apple pies to feed the hungry. Your recipe looks very yum too.
Always been a big fan of OzHarvest & creating leftovers into something fine, great post Amanda.
We rarely have leftover lamb but I cook with it often. In fact, I always only buy lamb when it is my turn to cook. I love it. And I love this kind of savory lamb pastry, haven’t done something like it in years so now it is time. And I’ll buy lamb especially for this recipe. I do love your creating a recipe that uses up leftovers in a delicious, creative way! And husband just bought a fresh packet of Ras el Hanout!