For the final day of this week’s marathon I made Turkish national dish, Baklava. I don’t remember the first time I tasted baklava, but it was love at first taste. Baklava is a very rich, sweet pastry made of layers of Phyllo (fillo) dough filled with nuts and sweetened with honey and syrup.
Nuts used in the filling are customizable. Traditionally pistachios, walnuts and sometimes hazelnuts are used, but a combination of nuts can also be used. I used walnuts and almonds. This recipe is adapted from Ree Drummond’s (Pioneer women), Divya’s (Chef in you) & Michael Symon’s recipes. Traditionally each and every phyllo layer is brushed with melted butter, but I followed Ree’s recipe of melting every other layer.