Baklava is an extremely popular pastry dish that is made with phyllo dough, a nut filling, and a honey syrup on top. Although the name “baklava” is actually Turkish, the pastry itself originates from ancient Greece, where they made a dish named “gastrin” that was was very similar to the modern baklava. The type of nuts used in baklava varies in different parts of Greece. Some use almonds, others use walnuts, and some even use peanuts. However, one of the oldest and most traditional ways to make this delicious pastry is the recipe shown below.
20 sheets of pre-made phyllo dough
14oz of almonds, chopped
14oz of wallnuts, finely diced
4 ½ cups of bread crumbs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp of ground cloves
1/8 tsp of ground nutmeg
Zest of one orange
3 tbsp of sugar
1/2lb of butter
½ cup of vegetable shortening
For the syrup:
½ cup of honey
2lb of sugar
2.5 cups of water
1 cinnamon stick
1 ½ tbsp of lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
Traditional Baklava
In a small pot, add the butter and vegetable shortening and melt them on low heat. Once they are melted together, remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl, mix the almonds, walnuts, bread crumbs, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, orange zest and the sugar. Then, take a deep baking dish and coat the bottom and sides with the melted butter. Take 6 sheets phyllo dough, and brush the surface of each one of them with the melted butter, and put them in the baking dish one on top of the other. Then, add an even layer of the nut mixture on top of the phyllo. Take another sheet of phyllo dough and apply it on top of the layer of nuts, folding the edges back onto itself inside the baking dish (so none of the phyllo sheet is hanging over the sides of the dish). Repeat this step 8 more times, adding a layer of nut mixture and a buttered sheet of phyllo each time. Lastly, use the remaining 6 sheets of phyllo dough, and apply them on top the same way you did the first 6 sheets, buttering each one and laying them on top of each other. Don’t forget to fold the edges back onto itself inside the baking dish (so none of the phyllo sheets are hanging over the sides of the dish). Using a sharp knife, make parallel, diagonal cuts in the baklava, creating triangular diamond shapes, (try to avoid scraping the bottom of the baking dish with the knife). On top of the pastry, add the remaining butter and then sprinkle with water. Bake in the oven at 338 degrees (F) for 1 ½ hour (until golden brown on top). After it finishes baking, pour the syrup mixture (below) on top (while the baklava is still hot), and set the pastry aside until it has absorbed the syrup completely.
For the syrup: in a small saucepan, combine the honey, sugar, water, cinnamon stick lemon juice, and lemon zest, and boil on high heat for 4 minutes…then set aside to cool until it is room temperature. Pour on top of the baked baklava as directed above.
Leftover baklava remains good for about a week before it should be thrown out.
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/1KSyfAZ Original recipe in Greek: http://bit.ly/1ud5REM
Galatopita is a very light dessert, made with simple ingredients, that everyone is going to love. It’s very easy to make, as you will see in the recipe below…
Ingredients for the cream:
2/3 cup of semolina
2/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp of ground vanilla
4 cups of whole milk
Ingredients for the phyllo dough:
1 ½ cup of flour
1 orange, squeezed
¼ tsp of baking soda
½ tsp of salt
½ cup of water (approximately)
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 tbsp of olive oil
Greek Traditional Galatopita
First, make the cream so there is time for it to cool to room temperature, before it’s applied on the phyllo dough. Put the eggs, sugar, semolina and vanilla in a large pot and mix them well with a whisk. Then, slowly add the milk while you continue stirring, until all the ingredients are combined. Simmer on medium heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat, and set it aside to cool until it is room temperature.
Next, prepare the phyllo dough. First, put the freshly-squeezed orange juice in a cup or small bowl, add the baking soda, and mix well until the baking soda is completely dissolved, and set aside. Next, put the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a small crater in the center of the flour with your hands, and add the olive oil, salt and the juice with the baking soda in it. Wash your hands very well, and start kneading the mixture, adding water little by little (as needed), until the dough does not stick to your hands. On a clean kitchen countertop, cut the mixture in half and create 2 snowball-sized balls of phyllo dough. Using a long rolling dowel, roll each ball of dough flat.
Coat the inside of a large baking dish with olive oil (to cover the surface). Place one of the flat sheets of phyllo dough into the baking dish, and shape it to the inside of the dish…covering the bottom and allowing the dough to hang over the sides. Brush a little bit of olive oil on the phyllo dough and then sprinkle 1 tbsp of the sugar and 1 tbsp of the cinnamon on it. Then, add the second phyllo dough, covering only the bottom (on top of the first phyllo, but not the sides of the baking dish). Add the cream mixture and then fold the edges of the first phyllo dough back onto itself inside the baking dish and on top of the cream (must not be hanging over the sides of the dish).
Put the egg in a small bowl, and beat it until the yolk is scrambled. Use a brush to apply half of it on top of the cream only. On top of the phyllo dough that surrounds the dish, brush a little bit of olive oil (not egg). Lastly, sprinkle the remaining sugar and cinnamon on top of the whole pie. Bake on 400 (F) for approximately 45 minutes (until golden brown on top of the phyllo dough). Enjoy!
Pastitsio (pronounced: pahs-TEET-see-yoh), is a dish enjoyed in Greece and also worldwide. There are so many variations of it in the cooking process, but the basic Greek traditional dish consists of a thick tubed-like pasta, ground beef or pork, bechamel sauce and a mix of spices. The final result is always delicious. Let’s get started!
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ packet of thick tubed-like pasta
1 tbsp of butter
1 tsp of salt
Ingredients for the meat:
1lb, 10.5oz of ground beef or pork
1 onion, chopped
5 tbsp of olive oil
1 can of tomato sauce
½ cup of red wine
½ cup of water
½ tsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp of salt
½ tsp of black pepper
¼ cup of whole milk (optional)
Ingredients for the bechamel sauce:
7 tbsp of flour
3 eggs
8 cups of whole milk
½ cup of soft butter
½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ tsp of salt
Authentic Greek Pastitsio:
Put the water and 1 tsp of the salt into a large pot and boil it on med-high heat. Add the pasta and cook for approximately 10 minutes, until they are soft. Rinse them and set aside.
Now let’s prepare the meat. Put the oil and the onion into a large frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add the ground beef or pork and continue cooking for approximately 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Now add the tomato sauce, nutmeg, salt, pepper, red wine, milk and the water and mix all the ingredients together. Let the meat mixture boil on med-high heat for approximately 30 minutes. Add more salt if necessary, to taste.
Let’s make the bechamel sauce. In a pot melt the butter on medium heat. Add the flour and stir well. While stirring add slowly the milk, eggs and salt. It’s very important to keep stirring constantly, until the mixture gets thick enough and starts boiling. When it’s done, add the shredded cheese and mix it all together. Add more salt if necessary, to taste.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with butter and on top of that add the ¾ of the pasta. Sprinkle a little of the shredded cheddar cheese. Add the hamburger mixture, then the rest of the pasta and last add the Béchamel sauce on top with the rest of the shredded cheddar cheese. Apply the sauce and cheese so they cover the whole surface. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees (F) for approximately an hour, until the surface is golden brown. When it’s done, take the casserole out of the oven and let it rest for a while until it’s just warm, otherwise you won’t be able to cut it into squares. Enjoy!
Greek cooking secrets:
As you’re cooking this dish, be careful to pay attention to the balance of flavors in each different parts. For example, after the hamburger is cooked, taste it. If it tastes a little salty, do not add more salt to the Béchamel sauce, otherwise the whole dish will be way too salty to eat.
The only reason we add milk to the meat mixture, is because it creates a more silky texture.
You can replace the shredded cheddar cheese with feta cheese. Add less salt in the food, because feta is already salty.
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