Savoury Vegan Filo Rolls with Beetroots and Carrots

Didn’t I tell you my next posts would be about filo pastry? Well, this is going to be the last one for now – I used my last sheets to make these savoury rolls filled with beetroots and carrots. Again, a 100% vegan recipe.

Why vegan, you might ask. Well, I'm not taking part in Veganuary (to be honest, I only read about it yesterday - a great idea!). But I've got a vegan challenge of my own: my husband who after three years of vegetarianism told me he'd like to eat only vegan from now on - and gave me an inspiring cookbook, the Vegan Love Story.  And I am inspired :)

The filling combines carrots and beetroots with lots of garlic and herbs, plus nutmeg, cinnamon and ras el hanout, a mixture of spices used in Northern Africa. A total winner!

This is what you need to make 6 rolls, or just enough for 3 eaters served with an accompaniment or for 2 served just with a salad:

•  6 A4-sized sheets of filo pastry

For the filling:

• 1 large beetroot, finely chopped (or grated)


• 2 small carrots or 1 large, finely chopped


• 1 small onion, chopped


• 2-3 garlic cloves


• 3 Tbsp


• 1tsp ras el hanout


• 1 pinch of grated nutmeg


• 1 pinch of cinnamon


• salt and pepper to taste


• a handful of chopped parsley and mint (or other herbs of your liking)

For the brush:

• 20g vegan margarine


• 4 Tbsp olive oil


• 2 Tbsp almond cream


• 1 garlic clove, crushed


• salt and pepper to taste

Start with the filling: heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Add onion, garlic, carrots, and beetroots, and stir and fry for about 5 minutes. Then add the spices and the cream and a bit of water if needed. Cover and let simmer about 5 more minutes. If the vegetables are really finely chopped, they get tender very quickly. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, make the brush: just combine all ingredients in a saucepan and warm up until the margarine has melted.

To make these rolls, I cut each A4-sized filo pastry sheet in two. I brushed the half of the small sheets with the brushing mixture and placed about 2 Tbsp of filling in the middle of each brushed sheet. Then I folded carefully into a 7cm long, 4cm wide roll. Then I wrapped each roll into a non-brushed filo sheet. This way, the rolls held together perfectly!

Bake in a preheated oven (200C) for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

To go with, I served some quinoa with grated lemon zest and a lot of chopped herbs. Yum!