Chicken Courgette Cigarillos

Start the week off with this quick and easy supper, utilizing leftovers and packed full of nutritious veggies.  

Chicken Courgette Cigarillos and Pea Purée
Serves 2, 1 per person

6 sheets of filo pastry, cut in half widthways
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp plain flour
1 cup of whole milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
1 cup cold roast chicken, cut into bite size pieces
Olive oil
1 courgette, diced
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
1 handful of button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup of corn
2 cups of frozen peas
1 tsp butter
A pinch of paprika

Start by taking the filo pastry out of the freezer to defrost.  Remove all packaging and cover in a damp tea towel.  Pre heat the over to 190c or 375f.

In a sauce pan, make a simple white sauce by first melting the butter and the mixing in the flour.  Allow to cook out before gradually adding the milk whilst whisking so as to avoid lumps.  When thickened, whisk in the mustard, salt and pepper.

In a separate pan, sauté the leeks, mushrooms and courgettes together until lightly browned.  Add the corn and the chopped chicken and then combine the lot with the white sauce.  Taste to check for seasoning and then set aside to cool for 5 minutes or so.

On a clean surface lay out 1 half sheet of filo pastry.  Drizzle a little olive oil over the top before laying another half sheet directly on top.  Repeat again so that you have three layers.  Then, spoon half the chicken and veggie mixture along the length of one edge of the filo and the roll up it up tucking in the ends to enclose the filling to create a ‘cigarillo.’

Next, on the clean surface, layer up another three half sheets with a little olive oil between each layer.  Take the cigarillo and roll it up inside these three layers giving you a total of 6 layers of filo.  Sprinkle some paprika over the top.

Repeat the process for the second cigarillo.



Cook the cigarillos on some grease proof paper on a baking sheet for 30 minutes.  The filo pastry should turn golden and crispy.  Don’t worry too much if the filo splits a little during the cooking process.  Half the width to make smaller pieces if it would really bother you!  (I’m not gonna lie, it did bother me a little bit… A lot in fact)



Bring a pan of water to the boil and tip in the peas. After a couple of minutes, drain the water, return the peas to the pan and add a tsp of butter, a pinch of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Blitz with the hand blender and taste for seasoning.  

To serve, cut each cigarillo into three with a little bowl of the pea puree.



These are ideal for little ones to pick up and eat with their hands and the filo is a fun texture for them also.  I used the leftover chicken from a roast the day before, but it would work equally well with other leftover meats or firm fish.