Makes 10

Use a hard goat’s cheese that will hold its shape during baking. Look for Ticklemore in your local cheese shop or try St Helen’s Farm goat’s cheese from Sainsbury’s.

1 tbsp olive oil

400g butternut squash, peeled and diced

2 leeks, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 sprig of rosemary, needles finely chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

200ml vegetable stock

500g puff pastry

200g hard goat’s cheese, in 1.5cm cubes

50g walnuts, roughly chopped

1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

1 Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan. Sauté the butternut squash, leeks and rosemary with some seasoning for 5 minutes over a high heat until the vegetables have softened. Pour over the stock and let bubble until the liquid has reduced and the vegetables are just tender. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.

2 Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 10 x 14cm circles, using a large saucer as a guide, then lift onto a baking sheet. Stir the goat’s cheese, walnuts and chilli into the vegetable mixture, then spoon the filling across the middle of each circle.

3 Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg, and bring them up to meet in the middle. Pinch the ends together to seal and make a pasty shape. Brush the pastry liberally with the remaining egg.

4 With a skewer, pierce a little steam hole just below the seam in the middle, then bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp.

Times Recommends

• 21 top tips for Christmas
• Chocolate and chestnut souffle cake
• Rabbit and oysters — feasts of Christmas past