Baclava

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 500g walnuts
  • 250g pistachio nuts
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 packet filo pastry
  • 1 lb unsalted butter, melt as required

Sauce

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 500 mL/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 stick of cinnamon

Directions

Thaw the filo pastry in the package. Coarsely crush up all of the nuts and mix in the sugar and cinnamon. Lay out the filo pastry flat but keep it under a damp towel so that it’ll stay moist before you butter it. Melt a quarter block of butter to start with. In a rectangular lasagna  dish, use 1/3 of the pastry for the bottom layer (brush EVERY layer of filo with butter – don’t be stingy or lazy, buttering every second or third layer will NOT give you the same result), 1/2 of the nuts, another 1/3 of the pastry for the middle, the other 1/2 of the nuts and then the last 1/3 of the pastry. You can break up the filo/nut layers in to more layers if you like. Cut the baclava in to little triangles in the dish before you bake it (otherwise it will flake uncontrollably once cooked). Pour the remaining butter over the pastry and bake at 350F for 30 mins or until golden brown. While pastry is baking cook the sauce by bringing to a boil the water, sugar, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon in a small pot. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the hot sauce over the lukewarm pastry.

Recipe from Alex V.

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