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Baklava with spiced nuts, ricotta & chocolate

Baklava with spiced nuts, ricotta & chocolate

Dessert · Turkish classic.

120 min1200 kcalserves 6

Ingredients

Method

  1. Continue cooking — First, make the syrup. Tip the sugar into a large saucepan with 650ml water.
  2. Bring to a boil — Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and bring to the boil.
  3. Simmer — Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 mins, then squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice and simmer for a further 5 mins.
  4. Heat the pan — Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Meanwhile, for assembling the baklava later, melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat for 5 mins, skimming and discarding any froth that rises to the surface.
  5. Mix together — For the filling, crush 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.
  6. Stir — Tip into a bowl, stir through the spices and set aside.
  7. Mix together — In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta with the lemon and orange zests and vanilla.
  8. Heat the pan — Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush the bottom of a large baking tray (about 35 x 47cm) with some of the melted butter.
  9. Cover and cook — Working with one sheet of filo at a time (covering the rest 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.
  10. Mix together — Sprinkle 30g of the nut mixture evenly over the whole sheet, then spoon 1 tbsp of the ricotta mixture across the end closest to you.
  11. Roll out — Fold 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.
  12. Roll out — When it’s fully rolled up, it should be roughly the thickness of a chipolata sausage.

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