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Nira's World
๐ณ Recipe Card ยท Greece
Episode ยท Greece
Baklava
Crispy, golden layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and drenched in honey syrup. Nira learned this recipe from a yiayia (grandmother) in Athens!
Ingredients
The Pastry & Nuts
1
1 pack filo pastry (about 20 sheets), thawed
2
200g unsalted butter, melted
3
150g walnuts, finely chopped
4
100g pistachios, finely chopped
5
1 tsp cinnamon
6
2 tbsp caster sugar
The Honey Syrup
1
200g runny honey
2
100g caster sugar
3
100ml water
4
1 tsp lemon juice
5
1 strip lemon peel
6
1 cinnamon stick
How to Make It
1
Prep the nuts. Mix chopped walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon and sugar together. Set aside. Preheat oven to 160ยฐC.
2
Layer the base. Butter a 20ร30cm tin. Lay one filo sheet in, brush with melted butter. Repeat with 7 more sheets (8 total), buttering each one.
3
Add nut layer. Spread a third of the nut mixture evenly over the filo.
4
Repeat layers. Add 4 buttered filo sheets, then nuts. Repeat until nuts are used. Finish with 8 buttered filo sheets on top.
5
Cut & bake. Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond or square shapes all the way through. Bake 40โ45 minutes until deeply golden.
6
Pour the syrup. While baklava is baking, simmer all syrup ingredients for 5 minutes. Remove lemon peel and cinnamon. As soon as baklava comes out of the oven, pour the cold syrup over the hot baklava. Leave to soak for at least 2 hours before serving.
Nira's Fun Fact
Baklava is enjoyed across Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and beyond โ each country has their own version! Greeks traditionally use honey in the syrup, while Turkish baklava uses a plain sugar syrup. The pastry is so thin you can read a newspaper through it โ skilled bakers can roll 40 sheets by hand!
๐ฃ๏ธ
Say it in Greek!
"ฮ ฮฟฮปฯ ฮฝฯฯฯฮนฮผฮฟ!" (Poli nostimo!)
Very tasty! ยท (po-LEE NOS-tee-moh)
Greece