Apple and blackberry slice

It feels like autumn today - windy, grey and cold. So to celebrate I made apple and blackberry slice to use (a) some of the blackberry mountain from the allotment and (b) the leftover filo pastry from the courgette/chickpea pie experiment.

It went down rather well, with a scoop of blackberry ripple ice cream.

You'll need:

4 or 5 eating apples - peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
a small punnet of blackberries
125 filo pastry
a jolly good squirt of runny honey
a sprinkle of cinammon
15g butter, melted

First of all, stick the oven on at about 200 degrees C.

Sling the apple chunks into a small saucepan with a little water (maybe half a mug). Bring to the boil, then simmer until the apple has turned to a beautiful mush.

Take a small foil tray or whatever cake or loaf tin comes to hand. Brush all over with melted butter, and line with 4 or 5 sheets of filo pastry (each brushed with melted butter), leaving a little overlap hanging over the edge.

Place the blackberries on the pastry, and top with the apple mush. Drizzle over a good squirt of runny honey, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Fold over the overhanging edges of pastry, and then place a couple more sheets of filo on top (brushing with more melted butter).

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.

Courgette, chickpea and filo pastry pie

I made this on a whim, mainly to use up a box of filo pastry I had in the freezer and the mountain of courgettes from the allotment. It was really good - and would be perfect if you've got vegetarian friends coming round for a meal.

I can't claim credit for thinking it up though - it's the blessed Nigella's recipe, slightly tweaked. Feeds 4 if you add a nice green salad, and maybe some crispy French baguette.

You'll need:

1 smallish onion, finely chopped
2 medium-sized courgettes, diced
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
60g rice (I used basmati)
1 can of chickpeas, drained
a good blob of butter (about 25g), melted
100g filo pastry

Stick the oven on at about 200 degrees C. Dig out a springform tin (one of those where you unhitch the sides, leaving the base free) - it needs to be a good 5cm deep.

Fry the onion and cumin seeds in a good slosh of olive oil, until the onion goes translucent. Add the coriander and turmeric, and mix well. Sling in the courgettes, and fry on a high-ish heat, until they too are soft and bright yellow. Add the rice, and stir it round well, so it takes on the oil and spices.

Gently add around 250-300ml water in stages - you want the water to be gradually absorbed by the rice. Stir well every couple of minutes - it should be cooked after 10-12 minutes. Drain the chickpeas, and chuck into the mixture.

Then comes the fun bit (you really liked this part). Take your springform tin, and thoroughly brush it all over with melted butter. Then layer the sheets of filo pastry (keep a couple for the lid), putting them at an angle to each other so no filling will escape, and leaving a little overlap at the sides. As you slide each pastry sheet into the tin, brush each one carefully with more melted butter.

Tip in the filling, and fold over the overlaps. Take your last couple of sheets of filo, scrunch them, and arrange on the top. Brush with more melted butter to seal.

Stick in the oven for 20 minutes or so, until the pastry is golden brown and crispy. Once you've retrieved it from the oven, decant from the springform tin, and stand back and admire for all of...ooh 20 seconds before you dig in.