Baklava
Adapted from Tina Longoria
Ingredients
· 1 package phyllo dough, room temp
· 1 cup butter, with more nearby in case, melted
For the filling:
· 1 pound nuts, typically a combination of walnuts and almonds but you can add in pine nuts and pistachios
· 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
· a few pinches of freshly ground nutmeg
For the syrup:
· 3 cups water
· 4 cups sugar
· 1 cinnamon stick
· ½ cup honey
· lemon and orange slices
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch cookie sheet.
Chop nuts in a food processor until finely chopped but not powdery or pasty. Add nuts to a bowl and add cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg and stir to combine. Set aside.
Unroll phyllo dough and cover with damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out while you are working. Place one sheet of dough on a clean work surface and with a pastry brush, brush half of it (width wise) with butter. Fold the other half over and press flat. Slice a vertical cut down the middle to make two long halves. Spoon about a tablespoon of nuts in the middle of one of the phyllo strips and spread out evenly from one end to ¾ of the way to the other end, leaving a few inches without nuts. Fold in either side of the width of the dough about a centimeter to create a border, then starting at the end with the nuts, roll the dough towards the plain end until it is completely rolled up like a sleeping bag. Add a little extra butter to the seams to make sure it is sealed, then place seam side down on the buttered cookie sheet. Repeat until the tray is filled up. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle the crushed nuts. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed pot on the stove, heat the 4 cups of sugar and the water and heat until sugar dissolves. Add cinnamon stick and citrus slices and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and add honey and stir to dissolve.
Once the Baklava pieces have cooled, place them in a brownie pan with high sides and ladle the syrup over the top. Let them sit I the syrup for a few hours to soak it up but don’t cover them or they will get soggy. Serve with Greek coffee or ice water.
