A cousin of the baklava, this dessert is equally delicious
but with a different style. The nightingale’s nests look very appealing and
hard to resist. I made these about a month ago and loved them. They tasted so delicious
that I decided to make them again with a few little adjustments. Instead of
pistachios, you may use hazelnuts, almonds or any other nut you may favor, but
for me nothing beats pistachios. I think it is the most delicious nut so it is
always my number one nut to use in desserts. Also, traditionally, I believe
these are made with pistachios so I do not want to change that. For some
reason, I love traditional foods the way they are and do not like to make a lot
of changes to them.
In making this dessert, a thinner roller pin (oklava) is used
to roll these pastries in Turkey,
but since I do not have one I used a thermometer’s storage sleeve. See picture.
Below is the recipe.
For the Pastry:
1 lb phyllo dough
8 oz pistachios (finely grounded)
8 oz (2 sticks) butter
A thin rolling pin or a stick
For the Syrup:
3 cups sugar
1½ cups water
1 tsp lemon juice
For Garnish:
1 oz pistachios (finely grounded)
Add the sugar and water in a pot. Stir until the sugar
melts. Let it boil for 2 minutes and add the lemon juice. Let it simmer for 3-4
minutes and remove from heat. Cool syrup.
Melt the butter slowly in a pan. Remove the foam and discard.
Let it cool.
Grease a baking tray with butter. Take one sheet of phyllo
dough and lay it on a flat working surface with the short side towards you.
Dip
a pastry brush in the butter and spread all over the phyllo sheet.
Lay another
phyllo sheet on top of the buttered sheet.
Lay the rolling pin at the bottom of
the phyllo dough and sprinkle the 2 tbsp pistachios on top of the phyllo dough
leaving about an inch without pistachio on top section of the phyllo sheet.
Start rolling the phyllo sheet over the rolling pin leaving the 1 inch on top.
From both sides crinkle the phyllo dough while the rolling pin is still inside.
Pull the rolling pin gently and close the ends of the dough leaving the 1 inch
section in the middle of the circle.
Butter the phyllo dough immediately and
place on the baking tray.
Repeat until all the phyllo dough sheets are used up.
Pour any remaining butter on top of the nests.
Heat the oven to 350º F. Place the tray in the middle rack of
the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. The longer it bakes the
crispier it gets. Remove from oven and pour the cooled syrup on top of each
round immediately. Cover with aluminum foil and let it cool. Distribute the 1
oz pistachios inside each of the nests. Enjoy with a hot tea or coffee.
Labels: Desserts
