Baklava

Ingredients:

Walnuts 4 cups finely chopped
Pistachio 2 cups

Sugar ½ cup

Ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

Ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon

Grated Lemon rind 1 teaspoon

Pastry sheets 1 lb

Butter 1 cup melted

Honey syrup:

Honey 1 cup

Sugar ½ cup

Water ½ cup

Lemon juice 1 tablespoon

Direction:

Honey Syrup:

Combine honey, sugar and water in a saucepan. On a medium flame, stir continuously until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice. Cool it. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a pan (11*17*1 ½ inches pan). Mix ground pistachios, walnuts with sugar, spices and lemon rind in a bowl. Cut pastry sheets to fit in the pan. Keep pastry sheets moist and flexible by covering with a damp cloth. Brush 12 pastry sheets lightly with melted butter and place in bottom pan. Spread 1 cup of walnut mixture over top sheet. Cover with four sheets after brushing each with butter. Then repeat layers.

Make top layer with 8 sheets after brushing each with remaining butter. With small, sharp knife, cut length wise through first layer to make strips 1 ½ inches wide. Then make diagonal  cuts 2 inches apart in top layer to form diamond shape (or any shape can be given to the baklava). Bake it for 1 hour until browned.

Remove from oven and cut them through the first cuts, deep to the pan. Spread honey syrup and keep it aside until completely cold before removing from the pan.