Baklava is a rich dessert made with phyllo pastry and nuts, originating in Turkey but widespread throughout the East wherever the Ottoman Empire reached. The history of baklava is uncertain; most likely it is a Turkish dish from Central Asia that developed into its current form in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Baklava is a complex, layered sweet made of thin sheets of phyllo pastry, like leaves or sheets of paper, brushed with butter and placed in a baking dish: chopped nuts (which may be replaced by pistachios) are scattered across the layers, which are then baked and finally soaked with a syrup made of sugar and lemon juice or honey and spices with rose water.
In Greek and Turkish tradition it is then cut into triangles, squares or rectangles, while in Lebanon the preferred shape is the diamond/lozenge or, again in Turkey, it may be rolled and sliced into rounds. As with most widely spread dishes, almost every region—or perhaps almost every family—keeps a different recipe.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 9 oz phyllo pastry
- 4 oz walnut kernels
- 4 oz pistachios
- 1/2 cup butter (melted)
- 2 cups water
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Tools
- 1 Baking dish
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Brush
Steps
To prepare the BAKLAVA, first chop the walnuts and pistachios and set them aside. Put the butter in a small saucepan and melt it.
Divide the sheets of phyllo into two portions or otherwise into squares the same size as your baking dish. Brush a 9.5×9.5 in (24×24 cm) baking dish with melted butter and place 2 sheets of phyllo on it. Butter them and add two more sheets. Continue alternating two sheets of phyllo and butter until you have 4 layers.Sprinkle the chopped walnuts and pistachios and add more layers of phyllo pastry as before.
Now take a sharp knife, dip the blade in boiling water, and cut the pastry down to the bottom of the pan, diagonally in both directions to obtain diamond shapes.
Brush the surface generously with butter and bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F (approximately 180°C) for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is well cooked and nicely golden.
Remove the BAKLAVA from the oven and let it cool completely.SYRUP
Place the water and sugar in a saucepan and simmer gently for 30 minutes. At the end add the lemon juice and stir.After a few minutes of cooking you will see the syrup thicken and coat your spoon. Remove it from the heat and pour it over the baklava so that it soaks into the lines that outline the diamonds.
Let cool and refrigerate for at least one night before serving, garnished with very finely ground pistachio crumbs.
