Baklava

Ingredients

• half a kilo ghee
• 400 grams crushed pistachios
• water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups sugar syrup [sheera]
• 12 sheets or more baklava pastry / baklava sheets
• 12 layers underneath pastry trimmings
• intact sheets top pastry layers
• sprinkles additional sugar for sprinkling over the filling and top

Instructions

1. Prepare the tray and lay the pastry sheets in the bottom without greasing between the layers if the pastry is properly made.
2. Cover the remaining pastry and set it aside until it is used for the top.
3. Arrange the trimmings or small pieces of pastry in the bottom of the tray, making about 12 layers or more as needed.
4. Distribute the pastry layers loosely and without bunching them together so the layer does not become thick in one place and thin in another.
5. Mix the pistachio filling in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of sugar, then gradually add a very small amount of water until the filling holds together without becoming a paste.
6. Rub the pistachios in the bowl with the sugar and a little water until they remain loose and cohesive, rather than becoming a paste like maamoul filling.
7. Spread the pistachio filling evenly over the pastry layers in the tray.
8. Press the filling down lightly by hand in the tray after spreading it.
9. Sprinkle a little sugar over the filling again.
10. Lay 2 sheets or layers of pastry over the filling, using either trimmings or pastry reserved for the top.
11. Take the excess pastry, slightly larger than the tray, then trim away the excess edges with a knife over the tray.
12. Cut the baklava into the desired shape before baking; squares or rectangles are preferred, depending on the tray.
13. Heat the ghee over the gas until it is very hot and clear, but not scorching.
14. Pour the hot ghee over the top of the tray until all the pastry layers absorb it.
15. Bake the tray in the oven on a rack above the middle if the oven is the type that browns the top quickly, so the top does not cook before the bottom.
16. Bake the baklava in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until it takes on color and dries out.
17. Leave the baklava in the oven for a total of about 45 minutes, until the lower layers dry out and all the pastry is cooked.
18. Prepare the sugar syrup in a pot, keeping it boiling hot when pouring it over the hot baklava.
19. Pour the boiling sugar syrup over the hot tray after taking it out of the oven.
20. It is preferable to use a larger tray when pouring on the syrup so that it does not spill over.
21. Move the tray slightly toward the back after pouring on the syrup so that the syrup distributes well.