Like all successful pursuits with children, the key to this recipe is freedom of choice. These spring rolls can contain pretty much whatever you, or rather they, like. Even chef Holly ate one, and that’s no mean feat given that she’s the world’s fussiest eater. But of course, everything tastes better when you’ve made it yourself.
Holly (11) and Daisy (8) spent an afternoon during half term creating this spring roll recipe and wrecking the kitchen in the process, which is all part of the fun! Just ensure that the washing up is as much a part of the process as the preparation and cooking!
Ingredients we used to make 8 rolls:
- 300g pack of cooked rice noodles from the chiller cabinet
- Mixed vegetables thinly sliced (about 400g in total) – we used:
- Carrots
- Spring onions
- Red pepper
- Beansprouts
- 100g cooked chicken
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- Small piece ginger, finely chopped
- Soy sauce
- Chinese five spice/Thai seven spice for sprinking
- Packet ready made filo sheets
- 1 egg, beaten
- Sesame seeds
- 1tsp oil
METHOD
1.
Heat the oven to 200c/180c fan.
2.
Put the noodles, vegetables and chicken into small individual bowls so that everyone can help themselves to whatever they do or don’t want.
3.
Give the children their own mixing bowl and spoon and allow them to select ingredients from the bowls in front of them.
4.
Add a bit of garlic, ginger, a dash of soy and sprinkling of five/seven spice to each bowl and let them mix everything together.
5.
Lay a sheet of pastry in front of each child. Get them to spoon the filling along the top of the pastry sheet, leaving a margin above and beside the mixture at both ends.
6.
Using the beaten egg and a pastry brush, brush around all four edges of the pastry. Fold in each side of the pastry and then roll it up to create a sausage. It doesn’t matter if it splits a little.
7.
Lift the spring rolls onto a large pre-oiled baking sheet, with the seam-side down. Brush again with beaten egg and sprinkle over sesame seeds.
8.
Try to remember whose spring roll is whose. We fashioned labels using small pieces of greaseproof paper with names written on them in order to identify them.
9.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden.
10.
Remove to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool before eating as the inside stays hot for a long time!
Top Tip: These spring rolls are tasty with some mild sweet chilli dipping sauce, but kids also love them with ketchup!
