Light Bites

Beef, Olive and Red Onion Canapés

15 prep, 2 hour 20min cook

Serves 0

Ingredients

225g lean stewing or braising steak such as boneless shin, feather or chuck steak, cut into 1cm cubes

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

2 tsps sunflower oil

1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped

25g smoked back bacon or pancetta cubes, chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsps sun-dried tomato paste

1/4 pint red wine or good, hot beef stock

1 x 227g can chopped tomatoes

15-25g black or green olives, roughly chopped

200g filo pastry sheets, thawed if frozen

50g butter, melted

Fresh small oregano leaves, to garnish

Method

To make the filling, place the beef in a large bowl, season, add the dried oregano and mix well.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the beef for 4-5 minutes turning occasionally until brown.

Add the onion, bacon or pancetta and garlic to the frying pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion is soft but not brown. Add the tomato paste, wine or stock, chopped tomatoes and olives. Spoon into a small casserole dish and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/ Gas Mark 4. To prepare the filo pastry, brush the filo sheets with the melted butter and with a sharp knife cut into 60 x 6cm/ 2inch squares. Lightly grease 2 mini muffin tins and line each hole with three buttered filo squares, placing each one at a slightly different angle and gently press down.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove the tins from the oven and gently transfer the canapés to a metal cooling rack and set aside. Place the canapés on a serving platter, spoon about 2 teaspoons of the filling into each, garnish with the fresh oregano and serve immediately.