Turkish Pistachio Baklava
Pistachio Baklava is one of the best things you can make with pistachios. This Turkish style “Havuç baklava” literally carrot baklava, named by its shape of cutting has no flavorings, spices, or honey as how it is in all Turkish baklava recipes, keeping the full flavor of pistachio and butter with the phyllo pastry.
Equipment
- 30cm in diameter round pan (you can use rectangular too if you don’t have a round one)
- Oklava, a thin rolling pin. Here is where you can get it: Turkish oklava rolling pin
- Regular rolling pin: Classic rolling pin
- Dough scraper
Ingredients
For the phyllo dough
- 1/2 egg whisk lightly and use half of it
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable
- 1 tsp of grape vinegar optional
- 2 cups flour can be less, add gradually
- 1 tsp baking powder
Phyllo ingredients for baklava
For The Layers
- 130 gr. butter melted and foams on top collected
- 200 gr. to 250gr. pistachios keep some coarsely processed, some thinner
- 200 gr. wheat starch if you can’t find use corn starch
The Syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 1+1/4 cup water
- wedge of lemon
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
To make the dough:
- In a mixing bowl add the wet ingredients, give it a gentle mix and add 1+1/2 cups of flour and baking powder and knead the dough. Add more flour if needed. We want the soft playable dough. In total, I used close to 2 cups. (We have a special flour for baklava. Preferably with a high protein, but you can make it with all-purpose flour.)
Phyllo pastry dough
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium-size wide pan. collect the foamy part on top to another bowl (I use it for the dishes I make s I used it in the kavurma meat for the Eid menu)
- For the syrup: Add the sugar and water to a medium-size pan, stir and boil. On a medium flame continue to boil until the last drops of the syrup get heavy for about 10-15 minutes. Add the lemon juice boil for 1 more minute and turn it off to cool down.
- The syrup of baklava should be heavy. This way baklava stays crispy for a longer time
Shaping The Phyllo Layers:
- Turn the dough into a log. Cut it in half and cut every half into 10 small pieces and shape them into balls. Sprinkle generously with wheat starch and cover. Repeat the steps for the other half of the dough. Let it rest for 20 minutes
- Beginning from the first batch using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a dessert size plate using starch.
- Cover the top of the dough generously with starch and continue to roll the other 9 pieces.
- After you stack every piece, roll all of them together using the rolling pin as big as you can. It should be at least bigger than your pan. If you are going to use a rectangular pan, roll the batch accordingly
- The starch between the layers will help them not to stick magically and you will be able to separate the pieces. It is not necessary if you do it for the first time but I randomly separate the pieces while rolling from time to time (please watch my video for more details)
Assembling The Baklava
- Cut the first batch of the dough to fit into your tray.
- Place a couple of even layers to the bottom. Then place the leftover pieces on top of it. If you can separating the phyllo sheets can give more air between the sheets resulting in better layers. I also do this to access dough pieces.
- Put the pistachios in the middle evenly and repeat the steps with the second batch.
- Traditionally we cut this baklava into triangles or as we say in Turkish “Havuç (carrot)” shape. If you are using a rectangular or square pan feel free to cut it into triangles or squares. Let me note that the common shape for Turkish pistachio baklava is rectangular in sweet shops
- Pour the almost hot, clarified butter over the baklava you cut with a spoon evenly. Bake at 170C degree preheated oven for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160C and continue to bake until golden color on top and bottom for about 30-40 more minutes
Baklava And The Syrup Meets:
- Pouring warm syrup over hot baklava
- Warm the syrup if it is cooled down while baking the baklava. Pour the warm syrup over the hot baklava. Let it rest for 1-2 hours. Sprinkle ground pistachios on top and serve with Turkish tea or coffee.