Pistachio, almond, lemon & rose baklava
I’ve never made baklava before – I was worried it would be a terrible faff – but it’s easy and a great thing to serve at the end of a Middle Eastern or Turkish meal.
MAKES around 25-30 pieces
PREP 35 mins plus overnight cooling COOK 1 hr 10 mins MORE EFFORT
125g ground almonds 300g pistachios, chopped in a food processor (some roughly, some finely)
1 lemon, finely zested and juiced, plus 4 broad strips of zest
V500g granulated sugar, plus 3 tbsp 200g butter, melted, plus extra for the tin
2 x 250g packs of filo pastry (you won’t use all the sheets) about 2 tsp rosewater (add to taste as brands vary in strength) handful of pink rose petals, unsprayed (optional)
1 Mix the almonds and pistachios in a bowl, reserving about 3 tbsp of the pistachios to garnish. Stir in the finely grated lemon zest, the 3 tbsp of sugar and 5 tbsp of the butter. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Butter the base and sides of a roasting or baking tin (30 x 20cm).
2 Whatever size of filo sheets you have, cut them to fit the tin. Lay one sheet of filo in it, butter it, and keep going until you have 6 sheets of filo. Spoon the nut mixture on top and press down with the back of a spoon, like making a biscuit base, then put 8 filo sheets on the top, again buttering each one. Using a sharp knife, cut a diamond trellis on top, then bake in the oven for
1 hr until golden brown.
3 Make the syrup by putting the sugar, lemon juice and strips of zest in a saucepan with 250ml water. Bring to a boil, stirring to help the sugar dissolve, then turn the heat down a little and simmer for 10 mins. The mixture will look quite syrupy. Remove the lemon zest and add the rosewater to taste. 4 While the baklava and the syrup are still warm, pour the syrup carefully over the pastry. Return the baklava to the oven for 5 more mins. 5 Sprinkle the remaining pistachios over the baklava, then leave to cool overnight – so that the baklava can absorb all of the syrup. If you’re making this for a special occasion, it’s nice to scatter over some torn rose petals (they have to be small pieces) just before serving.
PER SERVING 260 kcals • fat 13g • saturates 4g • carbs 30g • sugars 20g • fibre 2g • protein 5g • salt 0.3g
Some cooks are nervous about handling filo – just keep a tea towel over the sheets so they don’t dry