Orange Baklava

It’s not really difficult making vegetarian puddings, but vegan ones can be a bit more tricky. Since I have a seriously sweet tooth I tend to avoid making desserts – it’s just too tempting having them staring at me.

But as an experiment for part of our World Tapas course on the Wirral I had a play with a simple baklava. The filling is dead easy, but the filo (as always) takes a little bit of patience (which is a test for me!). It was also an excuse to use one of our favourite ingredients – pomegranate molasses. Sometimes I think it’s even better with nuts and fruit (try strawberries!) than vegetables.

It is also really important to find super fresh nuts. Better from a good independent health food store than a supermarket… and do remember to keep the rest in the freezer to stop the polyunsaturated oils becoming rancid. Stale nuts taste pretty awful and they’re not too good for your health either!

Pistachio and Orange Baklava

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Ingredients

1 packet filo pastry (minimum 270g)

60g hard margarine (Tomor has an ok flavour)

Filling

100g pistachio nuts

125g walnuts

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Syrup

100g caster sugar

1 orange, zest and juice

2 tsp pomegranate molasses

Makes 10-12 smallish pieces

First of all making the filling by pulsing the nuts, sugar and cinnamon in a processor until pretty well crushed, but not superfine (depending on how much crunch you want).

Line a small baking tin (18cm x 18cm is good) with baking parchment (don’t ever bother with greaseproof paper – it’s too thin and porous). Cut the filo pastry to the same size as the tin. Ideally you will have at least 12 sheets.

Then melt the margarine. Place one sheet of filo on the lined base and brush with margarine. Top with 5 more sheets, brushing each sheet well with margarine. Then spread half the filling on top. Cover with 6 more sheets of filo, again brushing with margarine as you layer.

Score and cut the baklava into diamond shapes in the tin (if you try and cut the pastry when cold it will just shatter). Then bake at 180C/Gas 4 for 30 minutes until golden. Let stand for 5 or 10 minutes.

To make the syrup, place the juice of the orange and the sugar in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then add the molasses. Simmer for a few minutes and let cool slightly before pouring over the baklava – it should sink in pretty quickly! (Use orange zest for garnish).