This moreish and filling Filo Tart with sweet potatoes and kale is the ultimate comfort food on an autumn evening. Filled with colourful vegetables and two types of cheese, it is a great lower-fat alternative to a quiche. If you are new to using filo pastry, this vegetarian filo pie recipe will definitely convince you to use it more often...
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Why You Will Love This Vegetarian Filo Pie?
- Filo Pastry is easy to work with - it typically comes in a packet of rolled thin sheets, so all you need to do is layer them for your tart base.
- This savory tart is filled with all the beautiful autumn vegetables - sweet potatoes and kale go wonderfully well together!
- We use two types of cheese in this recipe - cream cheese and goats cheese - but this Filo Pastry tart is still lower in fat, compared to puff pastry tarts of quiches.
- This vegetarian tart recipe leaves plenty of room for creativity and substitutions: change up the cheese, veggies or seasonings.
Why Use Filo Pastry For Tarts & Pies?
I am not sure if it's because it's getting cold outside or because I love pastry so much, I am craving savoury pies and tarts these days. Our latest obsession is filo pastry!
1. Delicate and Crispy Texture: Filo pastry, also known as phyllo pastry, is renowned for its paper-thin layers that crisp up beautifully during baking. As each layer bakes, it transforms into a golden, crunchy, and ethereal shell that adds an element of surprise to every bite.
2. Lighter and Healthier Option: Compared to the richer puff pastry or buttery shortcrust pastry, filo pastry is inherently lighter. Its thin layers require less fat to achieve that delectable crispness, making it a healthier choice for those seeking a balanced and wholesome meal.
3. Visual Elegance: The thin, translucent layers of filo pastry contribute to the visual allure of your vegetarian tart. As it bakes, the filo pastry takes on a mesmerizing golden hue, adding an air of elegance to your dish.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- oil: we used olive oil, but cold-pressed rapeseed oil or avocado oil will work as well. You may also use butter. Use cooled melted butter to brush the filo sheets.
- leeks: 2 small or 1 large leek, trimmed, cleaned and sliced.
- sweet potatoes: may be replaced with butternut squash or pumpkin.
- chilli flakes: also known as red pepper flakes. You may omit them if you don't want any heat in your vegetarian filo pie.
- garlic cloves: can be replaced with garlic puree. Be careful with the seasoning in this tart though, as ready-made garlic paste is typically heavily salted already.
- cream cheese: also known as soft cheese in the UK. You may use full-fat or reduced-fat options.
- eggs: medium in the UK, large in the US.
- lemon: zest only.
- kale: tough stalks removed. Typical kale can be replaced with cavolo nero (a type of kale) or swiss chard.
- dill: fresh or frozen, or you may use 1 teaspoon of dried dill. Omitting dill altogether won't hurt the overall dish flavour too much either, but we love it! Other fresh herbs, like parsley, will work too.
- filo pastry sheets: we use ready-rolled store-bought filo sheets. The packet typically contains 12 sheets, but don't worry, we have suggestions on what to do with any leftover sheets at the bottom of the article.
- soft goat's cheese: choose young creamy goat's cheese. It adds moisture and softness to the filling that contrasts with the crispy filo pastry tart case very well.
- nigella seeds: optional, but they add a beautiful visual aspect to the tart.
Method
When I make meals that require lots of different ingredients, I like to first gather and weigh everything out. Then I can simply relax and start chopping, shredding, crushing and crumbling.
Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan (ovenproof) or cast iron skillet. Add leeks and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Then tip in cubed sweet potato and cook for 10 minutes covered with a lid. Make sure to stir once in a while.
Stir in kale, chopped garlic and chilli flakes, cover again and cook for a further 5 minutes. Then remove from the heat, season, stir gently to keep potatoes intact and set aside to cool down slightly.
In a separate large mixing bowl, beat together your cream cheese, eggs, dill and lemon zest and some seasoning.
Spoon the cooled-down sweet potato filling into it and fold everything together.
Preheat your oven to 200°C Fan. Wipe the pan you used for your vegetables. Lay the first sheet of filo pastry in it and brush with a little oil (no need to brush the pan first). Carry on layering the sheets of filo, making sure the corners don't align (lay each sheet at a different angle) and brushing with a little oil in between.
Tip your creamy vegetable filling mixture into your pastry-covered pan and crumble your goat's cheese on top (or arrange goat's cheese slices if you're using more mature cheese).
Crumple the pastry inwards over the filling, leaving the middle of the vegetable tart exposed and then brush the pastry with a little more oil. Sprinkle with nigella seeds.
Put your pan back on the hob on medium heat and cook for around 3 minutes to crisp up the bottom of your tart. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the filo pastry is crispy and a lovely golden colour and the filling has set.
When you remove the pie from the oven, set it aside for 8-10 minutes. The filling will firm up, and it will be easier to remove from the pan and slice it.
Tips For Best Results
- Take your sheets of pastry out of the fridge 20 minutes before you use them, but leave them in the plastic wraper. You want the pastry at room temperature, but taking it out of the packet will allow it to dry out. Both cold and dry fillo pastry will be very brittle and hard to handle.
- Make sure to chop the sweet potatoes into small 1cm cubes to ensure the potato is fully cooked in time.
- Layer the filo pastry sheets with a little butter or oil changing up the angle of the corners to ensure no two corners align. This will give the best presentation.
- Make sure to use an ovenproof pan (we highly recommend a cast iron skillet). You need to cook the bottom of the tart on the hob first to avoid soggy bottom.
- After baking, leave the Filo Tart to set for 5-10 minutes. Much like quiche, it needs to firm up a bit before slicing into portions.
Storage
Any leftovers should be cooled down to room temperature, then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
This Filo Pastry tart does not reheat very well (the pastry gets very soggy in the microwave, and it burns when heating the tart all the way through in the oven). The good news is, it is absolutely delicious cold. So the leftovers make a great lunch the next day or something tasty to take on a picnic.
What To Serve Vegetarian Filo Tart With?
This Sweet Potato and Kale tart is relatively filling, so I would only suggest a side salad or two to go with it. We particularly like:
If you are looking for a hot side dish, try it with Lemon & Garlic Tenderstem Broccoli (Or Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli) or Lemon Thyme Spring Greens.
Recipe FAQs
Filo pastry is typically made from simple ingredients like all-purpose flour, water, a touch of oil or fat, and a pinch of salt. If you want a challenge, try making your own filo pastry.
"Phyllo" and "filo" are two different spellings for the same type of pastry. Both terms refer to the thin, delicate dough used in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines to create flaky and layered pastries. The choice of spelling, "phyllo" or "filo," often depends on regional variations. This pastry is sometimes referred to as phyllo dough or filo dough too.
Other Filo Pastry Recipes
If you like our Filo Tart, or maybe have some leftover filo pastry, try another favourite of ours:
- North African Spiced Chickpea & Feta Pie
- Creamy Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pie
- Lamb Sambousek with Filo Pastry
- Spinach Filo Pastries with Goats Cheese
- Moroccan Briouat | Pistachio & Almond Filo Pastries
Sweet Potato and Kale Filo Tart
Equipment
- Ovenproof frying pan/ cast iron skillet approx 9in (23cm) in diameter)
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 250 g leeks (2 small or 1 large leek) trimmed, cleaned and sliced
- 320 g sweet potatoes peeled and chopped to 1cm cubes
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 2 garlic cloves chopped finely
- 130 g cream cheese full or reduced fat
- 2 eggs
- 1 lemon zested
- 80 g kale tough stalks removed, leaves shredded
- 15 g dill fresh or frozen (use 1 teaspoon if using dried dill)
- 8 filo pastry sheets
- 100 g goat's cheese
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds optional
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in an ovenproof frying pan (9in) or cast iron skillet. Add leeks and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Then tip in cubed sweet potato and cook for 10 minutes covered with a lid. Make sure to stir once in a while.
- Stir in kale, chopped garlic and chilli flakes, cover again and cook for a further 5 minutes. Then remove from the heat, season, stir gently to keep potatoes intact and set aside to cool down slightly.
- In a separate large bowl, beat together your cream cheese, eggs, dill and lemon zest and some seasoning. Spoon the cooled down sweet potato filling into it and fold everything together.
- Preheat your oven to 200°C Fan. Wipe the pan you used for your vegetables. Lay the first sheet of filo pastry in it and brush with a little oil (no need to brush the pan first). Carry on layering the filo sheets, making sure the corners don't align (lay each sheet at a different angle) and brushing with a little oil in between.
- Tip your creamy vegetable filling into your pastry covered pan and crumble in your goat's cheese on top (or arrange goat's cheese slices if you're using more mature cheese).
- Crumple the pastry inwards over the filling, leaving the middle of the tart exposed and then brush the pastry with a little more oil. Sprinkle with nigella seeds.
- Put your pan back on the hob on medium heat and cook for around 3 minutes to crisp up the bottom of your tart. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the filo pastry is crispy and a lovely golden colour and the filling has set.
- When you remove the pie from the oven, set it aside for 8-10 minutes. The filling will firm up, and it will be easier to remove from the pan and slice it.
Notes
- Take your filo pastry sheets out of the fridge 20 minutes before you use them, but leave them in the plastic warper. You want the pastry at room temperature, but taking it out of the packet will allow it to dry out. Both cold and dry fillo pastry will be very brittle and hard to handle.
- Make sure to chop the sweet potatoes into small 1cm cubes to ensure the potato is fully cooked in time.
Nutrition
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