Pistachio and green-tea baklava
Ingredients
- 1 x 1kg roll filo pastry, defrosted in the fridge
- 500g pecan nuts, chopped
- 500g pistachios, chopped
- 5ml (1 tsp) cinnamon
- 180g butter, melted
- 250ml (1 cup) green tea (made with 4 green tea bags)
- 500ml (2 cups) honey
- 250g sugar
- 15ml (1 tbsp) vanilla extract
- TO GARNISH
- almond slivers, toasted
- strawberries, quartered
- raspberries
- fresh mint leaves
- icing sugar, to dust
Instructions
Remove the defrosted pastry from the fridge 1 hour before using. When working with filo, only remove the sheets you immediately need, keeping the other sheets covered with a damp tea towel.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Toss together the chopped pecans, pistachios and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
Thoroughly butter a rectangular 30cm x 30cm x 6cm baking tin with the melted butter. Make sure the sheets of filo will fit in the pan. (If they’re a little bigger, that’s okay; if they’re much bigger, simply trim them with a sharp knife.)
Butter the top sheet of filo with melted butter, then grab it and the unbuttered sheet below it. Flip the sheets over and set them in the baking tin, buttered-side down. Press them lightly into the pan. Repeat this twice more, so that you have 6 sheets of filo in the tin with 3 of the sheets buttered. Sprinkle over enough pecans and pistachios to make a single layer. Butter 2 sheets of filo and place them on top of the pecans and pistachios, buttered-sides down. Add more pecans and pistachios, then 2 more buttered filo sheets. Repeat this a couple more times until you’re out of pecans and pistachios. Pour over the green-tea concentrate and top with 4 more buttered filo sheets, buttered-sides down. Butter the top of the final sheet.
Cut a diagonal diamond pattern in the baklava using a very sharp knife. Bake in the oven until very golden brown, about 45 minutes.
While the baklava is baking, combine the honey, sugar and vanilla with 125ml (½ cup) water and any remaining melted butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, 15 minutes.
Remove the baklava from the oven and drizzle half of the honey mixture evenly all over the top. Allow to absorb, 1 minute, then drizzle on a little more until you think it’s thoroughly moistened. Allow the baklava to cool, uncovered, about 3 hours. Once cool and sticky and divine, carefully remove from the pan. Serve sprinkled with toasted almond slivers and garnished with strawberries and raspberries, fresh mint and a dusting of icing sugar.
