Baklawa (baklava)

[Twitchin Kitten]

This is mostly known in America being made with walnuts but my family always made it with pistachios.

This is one of the many wonderful desserts common in Middle Eastern and Greek homes and restaurants.

You will need to find a shop that sells rose water or orange blossom water for this.

Baklawa

makes about 50 pieces ~ The finest quality sheets of fillo should be used for good baklawa.

Ingredients:

syrup:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons orange-blossom or rose-water
1 pound fillo (about 24 sheets)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (I always wind up using almost 4 sticks!)
3 - 3 1/2 cups (1 pound) unsalted pistachio nuts or walnuts, ground medium-fine (weight is after shelling!)

Prepare the syrup first. Dissolve the sugar in the water with the lemon juice and simmer a few minutes, until it thickens enough to coat a spoon when dipped.
Add orange-blossom or rose-water and simmer for 1/2 minute. Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator.

In a greased baking pan, a little smaller than the sheets of fillo, lay half the sheets, one at a time, brushing each with melted butter and letting the edges come up the sides of the tray or overhang.

Spread the nuts evenly over the sheets then cover with the remaining sheets, brushing each, including the top one with melted butter. With a very sharp knive, cut diagonal parallel lines 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart into diamond shapes right through to the bottom

Bake the pastry in a preheated 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until it is 'puffed up' and golden colored.
Remove from the oven and pour the cold syrup over the hot baklawa along the slashed lines. The amount of syrup called for is the usual one. If you prefer to use less, pour on three-quarters or half the mount and let people help themselves to more if they wish.

When cool and ready to serve, cut the pieces of pastry again and lift them out one by one onto a serving dish.

Variations:

• use vegetable oil instead of butter if you like
  
• Lul-wa-shkur (eat and thank) is filled with ground blanched almonds mixed with half their weight in sugar. In this case, use half the amount of syrup.
  
• In Iraq and Iran, they flavor the almond with 1 Tbsp ground cardamom. Sometimes the amount of filling goes up to 2 pounds of almonds
  
• In Greece, the stir a spoonful or two of honey into the syrup.
  
• When using walnuts, you can mix 2 tsp cinnamon into the filling
  
• For a cream-filled Turkish version, bring to a boil 3 1/2 cups milk.
  Mix 1/2 cup rice flour with 1/2 cup cold milk to a paste.
  Add this to the boiling milk, stirring vigorously, and continue to cook over very low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Simmer for about 15 mins adding about 1/3 cup sugar towrd the end. Let it cool before using as a filling instead of nuts.