The Hairy Dieters' apple and cinnamon strudel

Ingredients

• 1 large Bramley apple (about 500g peeled weight), diced
• 50g raisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 50g light soft brown sugar
• 5 large sheets of filo pastry (30 x 40cm)
• Low-cal oil spray (preferably sunflower)

Method

If you’ve any filo pastry left from another recipe this is the way to use it up. Strudels look really impressive but this is one is so easy to make. And if you decide you really want to spoil yourself, serve the strudel with some half-fat crème fraiche or custard!

Put the diced apple and raisins in a large bowl. Mix the cinnamon, cloves and cornflour with the sugar and sprinkle over the apple and raisins. Stir thoroughly until the dry ingredients have completely coated the apple. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6.

Lay out a sheet of filo on a work surface and spritz it a couple of times with oil. Use a pastry brush to spread the oil over the pastry, then repeat until you have a pile of all 5 sheets. (If your filo sheets are smaller, just overlap a couple of smaller ones slightly to get roughly the right size.)

Spoon the filling along the centre of the pastry, lengthways, then brush all the edges with water. Fold the shorter edges in first, then the longer sides. Turn the strudel over so the joins are on the bottom. Spray it again with the oil spray, then transfer to a baking tray.

Cook the strudel in the oven for 25–30 minutes until the pastry has lightly browned and the filling is piping hot. Serve hot or at room temperature.

THE HAIRY DIETERS MAKE IT EASY: Lose weight and keep it off the easy way by Si King & Dave Myers is published by Seven Dials in paperback at £16.99. Buy now.

Visit our healthy recipes section for more delicious healthy meal ideas, or try more recipes from The Hairy Bikers, including vegetarian enchiladas and Thai curry