Chocolate and Banana Phyllo Parcels

You can skip the banana if you like, I know some people are really anti the whole cooked banana concept. I am definitely not. I rustled this up the other evening when we had our lovely English friends Jo and Lucy round for dinner.  They are the perfect guests, never arriving empty handed, and on this occasion it was with a bottle of Chocolate Block red wine, which was the perfect starter and finisher for our meal. Anyway, all I could find in the way of pudding were a few old bits of ice cream that were definitely past their prime. We’ve all been there. Whilst looking for the ice cream however, I stumbled upon a roll of phyllo pastry in the freezer that had been ignored for months. Here’s how I made a new friend…

Serves 4 | Preparation time 10 minutes | Cooking time 15-20 minutes
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1 roll phyllo pastry
About 1/4 cup melted butter (melt a decent size knob of butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds)
1 slab chocolate, anything will do (Even chopped up bar one. I am now thinking about how well lindt balls would work though… must give that a bash SOON)
1 banana, sliced
A few toasted slivered almonds (I permanently keep a small tupperware filled with them, they make a great addition to almost anything including sprinkling over broccoli or curry before serving)

WHAT TO DO
1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.

2. Take 1 layer of thawed out pastry, brush with melted butter (keep the rest of the pastry to the side with a damp (clean!) dish cloth covering them so that the pastry doesn’t dry out.

3. Take a second layer, place it on top of the first layer, and brush with melted butter.

4. Cut the now two-ply sheet into equal squares, about 8cm by 8cm or thereabouts.

5. Place 3 squares of chocolate, a couple of slices of banana and a few toasted almonds in the centre and fold it into a little parcel or roll into a little ‘cigar’.

6. Place in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with a few more almonds and bake until golden then turn. When the flip side is golden remove.

7. Serve with whipped cream.

Variations: Again, this one looks and tastes great, and is a real doddle to do. And you can fill them with almost anything.

Oh, and Rob’s rating on these was 7/10