Pistachio Turkish Baklava Recipe

Most baklava fans are familiar with Greek-style baklava which often features honey as the main sweetening ingredient. Turkish baklava is sweetened with "şerbet" (share-BET'), a light syrup made from sugar, water, and lemon juice. This makes Turkish baklava much lighter and crispier than most Greek or Middle Eastern-style varieties.

In every Turkish pastry shop, supermarket, and household, you'll find endless varieties of baklava made with walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, and more. The sweet treats come in all shapes and sizes like squares, diamonds, rolls, and spirals. It's a baklava-lovers paradise.

One of the most coveted baklavas of them all is pistachio baklava made with bright green, raw pistachio nuts. If you wish, you can substitute the pistachios with ground walnuts or hazelnuts for a more economical version of this recipe. Go ahead and experiment with different nuts to give you different flavors.

With this recipe, you don't have to go all the way to Turkey to enjoy good baklava. And you won't have to roll out paper-thin sheets of "yufka" (yoof-KAH'), or pastry yourself. Baklava is actually very easy to make at home with ready-made, pre-packaged "baklava yufkası" (bahk-lah-VAH' yoof-kah-SU'), better known as phyllo pastry. You can find phyllo dough in the frozen food section of your grocery store, or in Middle Eastern and Greek grocers. If it's your first time using fresh or frozen phyllo dough, these tips for using ready phyllo dough are helpful.

Ingredients

Syrup:

• 4 cups of water
• 3 cups of sugar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Baklava:

• 36 leaves fresh or frozen packaged phyllo dough (14 x 18-inch size)
• 1/2 pound (300 grams) unsalted clarified butter
• 1/2 pound (300 grams) raw, hulled pistachio nuts, ground to a powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Materials:

• 14 x 18-inch shallow metal baking pan
• Pastry brush
• Pastry cutter or sharp knife

Directions

1. Begin by making the syrup. You'll pour over the hot baklava later on. Combine the water, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer slowly uncovered while you prepare the rest of the baklava.
2. Prepare the clarified butter.
3. Mix the ground pistachio nuts with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Brush the bottom of your baking pan with butter and sprinkle a few pinches of the ground pistachio nuts over the butter.
4. Take your first layer of phyllo and set it in place. Working quickly, brush the entire piece of phyllo with the butter. Repeat in the same manner with 18 leaves of phyllo.
5. Once you've buttered the 18th layer, use all of the ground pistachio mixtures to make an even layer going all the way to the edges of the pan.
6. Place another layer of phyllo over the nuts and butter it. Repeat until you finish the last layer. If you have extra butter left, set it aside.
7. Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, gently cut the baklava into even squares or diamond shapes. If you're using a round pan, you can cut it into large, narrow slivers.
8. Drizzle the leftover butter over the top. Place the pan in a preheated 395° F/200° C oven and set the timer for 45 minutes.
9. Once the baklava is in the oven, remove the syrup from the heat and leave it to cool down.
10. Bake the baklava for about 45 minutes, or until the layers puff up high and the top layers are golden, crispy and translucent.
11. When ready, remove the tray from the oven. While it's still piping hot, immediately pour the cold syrup evenly over the baklava. Let it bubble up then settle. Generously sprinkle more ground pistachios over the top.
12. Leave your baklava to cool down to room temperature before serving.