Baklava

Ingredients

• 400g filo pastry, thin sheets, about 20 sheets
• 300g shelled unsalted pistachios
• 250g unsalted butter, clarified
• 400g caster sugar
• 300ml water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp finely ground pistachios to finish

Before you cook

• Take the filo out of the fridge an hour before you start so it is pliable.
• Melt the butter gently, skim the white foam from the top, and pour off the clear golden fat, leaving the milky solids behind.
• Pulse the pistachios in a food processor to a coarse crumb, stopping well before they turn oily.
• Brush a 30x20cm metal baking tin with clarified butter.
• Cut the filo sheets, if necessary, so they fit the tin.

Steps

1. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
2. Boil the syrup for 10 minutes, add the lemon juice, then take it off the heat and leave it to cool completely.
3. Heat the oven to 170C.
4. Lay one sheet of filo in the tin and brush it lightly all over with clarified butter.
5. Add nine more sheets the same way, buttering each one, keeping the unused filo under a damp cloth.
6. Spread all the chopped pistachios evenly over the tenth sheet, right to the corners.
7. Cover with a sheet of filo and brush it with butter.
8. Build up ten more buttered sheets on top, finishing with a generous coat of butter on the last one.
9. Cut the baklava into diamonds with a very sharp knife, pressing straight down through every layer to the base of the tin.
10. Pour any remaining clarified butter slowly over the surface so it runs into the cuts.
11. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the top is evenly golden brown and the layers have separated and lifted.
12. Take the tin from the oven and immediately ladle the cold syrup over the hot pastry, working slowly so it is all absorbed.
13. Listen for the hiss, which tells you the temperature difference is right and the layers will stay crisp.
14. Leave the baklava uncovered at room temperature for at least 4 hours, and ideally overnight, before lifting out the pieces.
15. Scatter the finely ground pistachios over the top just before serving.