Foodie Friday – Baklava

Baklava is a very old recipe indeed.  It goes back to the Ottoman Empire – it may have originated in Istanbul (it was probably called Byzantium then).

The Greeks and the Turks both claim this dish (shades of pavlovagate). 

I've chosen a Greek version of Baklava:

Ingredients

For the baklava

• 25–30 sheets of phyllo dough
• 500g (17 oz.) walnuts, chopped (or a mix of walnuts, pistachios and almonds)
• 2 tsps cinnamon powder
• 2 tsps grounded clove
• 300g butter, melted (10 oz.)
• some whole cloves for garnish (optional)

For the syrup

• 600g sugar (20 oz.)
• 400g water (14 oz.)
• 80g honey or glucose (2.8 oz.)
• zest of 1 lemon or orange
• 1 cinnamon stick

Instructions

1. To prepare this Greek baklava recipe, start by melting the butter in a saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn it. Use a cooking brush to butter the bottom and sides of a baking pan. (For this baklava recipe you will need a large baking pan approx. 40*30cm). Begin by layering the sheets of phyllo on the bottom of the baking dish to form the base. Layer the sheets one at a time, making sure to sprinkle each one with melted butter. Use about 10-12 layers for the base.
2. In a large bowl, mix the chopped nuts, the cinnamon and grounded clove. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the phyllo base and continue forming the top of the baklava. Top the nuts with the rest phyllo sheets (10 of them), sprinkling each one with melted butter and brush the top of the baklava with enough butter. You could also try adding some of the filling in between layers of filo.

3.    Place the baklava in the fridge for 15 minutes to make it easier to cut into pieces. Remove from the fridge and using a sharp knife cut all the way down into pieces. If you fancy the taste of clove, place one whole clove into the middle of each baklava piece and sprinkle the top with some cold water.

4.    Place the baklava in preheated oven at 150C on the lower rack (both top and bottom heating elements on) and bake for about 1 1/2- 2 hours, until all the phyllo layers are crisp and golden.

5.    Prepare the syrup. Into a small pot mix all the ingredients for the syrup (except honey) and bring to the boil. Boil for about 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Take it off the heat and stir in the honey. Let the syrup cool down. You can also put the syrup in the fridge. As soon as the baklava is ready, ladle slowly the cold syrup over the hot baklava, until it is fully absorbed.

6.    Let the baklava cool down completely and serve after the syrup has soaked throughput. Enjoy!