Baklava met spiced nuts, ricotta & chocolate

Bereiding

1. 1

   First, maak the syrup. Tip the suiker into a large saucepan with 650ml water. roer over a low verhit tot the suiker has dissolved, then turn up the verhit and breng aan de kook. zet het vuur lager to a laat sudderen and kook for 15 mins, then pers in a few drops of citroensap and laat sudderen for a further 5 mins. haal van het vuur and laat to cool. ondertussen, for assembling the baklava later, melt the boter in a small pan over a low verhit for 5 mins, skimming and discarding any froth that rises to the surface.

2. 2

   For the filling, plet all of the nuts in a pestle and mortar, or blitz in a food processor – you want a mixture of finely ground nuts with a few chunky pieces. Tip into a bowl, roer erdoor the spices and zet opzij.

3. 3

   In a separate bowl, meng the ricotta with the citroen and sinaasappel zests and vanille. verhit the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush the bottom of a large baking tray (ongeveer 35 x 47cm) with some of the melted boter. Working with one sheet of filo at a time (covering the rust with a damp tea towel to prevent it drying out), lay the sheet out on a board so one of the short ends is facing you. bestrooi 30g of the nut mixture evenly over the whole sheet, then spoon 1 tbsp of the ricotta mixture across the end closest to you. schep erdoor this end over to enclose the filling, then lay a long, thin skewer next to the folded edge and roll the pastry around it to create a long roll. When it’s fully rolled up, it should be roughly the thickness of a chipolata worst. While holding one end of the rolling pin or skewer, voorzichtig scrunch the filo roll like an accordion and carefully push it off the skewer and onto the prepared tray. Repeat with the rust of the filo and fillings – you should get ongeveer 12 rolls. Cut each roll into four to maak 48 large baklava, or eight to maak 96 mini.

4. 4

   Brush with the remaining melted boter. bak for 20-25 mins tot evenly goudbruin, turning the tray around halfway through. While still hot, immediately giet over 5-6 ladlefuls of the syrup. You should hear the syrup sizzle as it hits the hot baklava. zet opzij to cool and absorb.

5. 5

   Melt the pure chocolade in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water, or in the microwave in short bursts. Drizzle this over the cooled baklava and bestrooi with the ground pistachios.