LEMON CHEESE MINCEMEAT STRUDEL ( Serves 6-8 )

An ideal way to use up left-over jars of mince meat from Christmas.

125g/4oz packet of cream cheese, beaten until smooth
Grated rind of 2 lemons
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and roughly grated
8 tbsps mincemeat
60g/2oz fresh white breadcrumbs
8 small or 4 large sheets filo pastry, defrosted
30g/1oz butter melted
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Beat the cream cheese until smooth then add the grated lemon rind and apple, mincemeat and breadcrumbs - you need the breadcrumbs to absorb the juices from the apple.

Make one large strudel with large pastry leaves, or two smaller ones. Brush with one sheet with melted butter, cover with another and brush again - the final stack will be 4 sheets thick. Spoon the mincemeat mixture down the centre of the filo (longways), then fold the short sides of the pastry in over the filling. Roll up from the long side and seal well then transfer then strudel to a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Dust with sieved icing sugar and allow to cool.  Serve sliced

Did you know?

If you want perfect pastry, guaranteed, then your best choice is frozen. Tests carried out by the Good Housekeeping Institute panelists found that the frozen pastry tasted freshest.