We know Zena’s granddaughter Olivia. She was there when we arrived at Zena’s Hampstead flat, and they’d gone for a coordinating white shirt with black- ribbon- necktie ‘look’. It was like walking in on a couple of excitable 15-year-olds. We began with tea and biscuits, as is traditional, and quickly got on to the subject of exercise. Zena made the giant claim that she can hold a plank for 300 counts. A few counts later she was on the floor with a cushion under her elbows, proving that small people can indeed have extraordinary strength of core (and mind).
Her flat was impeccably presented. China was placed with precision and every cushion plumped to the max on the big cream sofa, which almost engulfed her when she sank into it for her portrait. She cooked with a choreography of small, delicate movements, as if her hands were barely touching the ingredients. Then out came these bold snacks, which we ate while warm, and quickly lost count of how many we’d had.
We never push grandmothers to do a recipe that isn’t intrinsically connected to them, so we were very happy to go with Zena’s take on piroshkis (more a turkey sausage roll than traditional piroshki). But when she told us the secret to the sneaky version of the sauce – a mix of ketchup and brown sauce – we did have to ask her to share her more elaborate ‘home-made’ version. You choose which one to use.
Makes 20
Takes 50 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 tbsp coconut oil
300g turkey mince
1 x 320g pack ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten (to glaze)
For the tomato sauce
200g tinned chopped tomatoes (half a tin)
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Worcester sauce
For Zena’s quicker, sneaky sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
3 tbsp HP or other brown sauce
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan°C/gas 6.
In a pan, combine the tomato sauce ingredients. Break down the tomatoes with a fork and reduce down to a ketchup consistency for about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, fry the chopped onion in the coconut oil until browning and then add the mince, stirring and breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until cooked through.
Add all the sauce to the mince and stir together (or seasoned ketchup and brown sauce, if you’re cheating). Set aside to cool.
Lay your piece of ready-rolled puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Slice it in half lengthways.
Take one half of the pastry and place half of the mince mixture neatly along one of the long edges, leaving a 1cm gap between the filling and the edge of the pastry.
Brush the 1cm edge with a little water (Zena uses an ice cube!) to help it stick.
Fold the opposite edge over and around the meat, tucking under slightly, to meet the moistened egg-washed side. Squeeze slightly to ensure the pastry is stuck and the meat is enclosed. Roll the pastry over so the join seam is underneath.
Cut into 10 pieces (around 3cm each) and place on a floured baking tray.
Repeat with remaining pastry and mince, and brush the top of each roll with the remaining egg wash.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden on top. Serve with a glass of bubbles.
Read Zena’s interview here