Pistachio Apricot Baklava

I recently had my wisdom teeth removed. During my recovery, I often sat on the couch, watching cooking shows and reading food blogs, enumerating the many things I wouldn’t be able to eat for days and generally feeling sorry for myself.

I pinned one recipe after another, each chock full of chewy, seedy, crunchy, chunky things I could eat SOME day. Torturing myself. At the same time, I was watching late morning talk shows. Also torturing myself. But, I happened to look up at the right time to spot that cutie pie Nate Berkus with some equally cute guest on his show making baklava. Oh. Now would you look at that?

Something about those dainty diamonds of chewy, flaky, buttery pastry sucked. me. in.

On a side note, I’m finding myself in a strange pattern of crushes on gay celebrity men. Andy Cohen. Nate Berkus. I want to bake them blueberry muffins and pinch their cheeks. I don’t know what that says about me.

But, anyway, back to the baklava segment. That Nate made it look so easy. So stinkin’ easy that I couldn’t believe I had lived my whole life without making it. I kissed the television screen and swore that baklava would be in my future. (I also made a note to dust the television. Eww.)

Last weekend it happened. I got to slapping together a lot of filo dough, nuts, sugar, and butter, butter, and butter.

No matter how many cooking segments I’ve watched in my lifetime, nothing could have prepared me for what an evil, finicky bitch that filo dough is. But, I persevered and basted it into submission with lots of butter, butter, butter. After it finished baking, I soaked it in a fragrant syrup full of sugar, sugar, sugar. And then I let it sit all day, soaking up all that sweet stuff.

And then I fished a wedge of this baklava out later that night to taste it. I absolutely died, died, died.

I’ve never been a big baklava eater, usually finding it pretty underwhelming. But this stuff. Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. There’s no words. Just set aside some time and space in your kitchen one day, take a valium, and make it. That’s all.

Pistachio and Apricot Baklava
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

1 package filo dough, thawed in the refrigerator for 24 hours
2 sticks of butter

Nut Filling:
3 cups roasted, unsalted pistachios
1 1/2 cups dried apricots
1 teaspoon cardamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Syrup:
1 3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
zest of 1 lemon, cut into wide strips with a vegetable peeler
10 black peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon rosewater

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Liberally butter a 9 x 13 pan. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the pistachios until finely ground. Remove to a large bowl. Add the dried apricots to the food processor and pulse them until the apricots are minced. Transfer the apricots to the bowl with the nuts. Add the cardamon, sugar, and salt and toss until evenly mixed. With your hand, score the nut mixture into thirds. Set aside

Carefully unwrap the filo dough. Working quickly, cut the stack of filo sheets in half, or as needed, to fit your greased 9 x 13 pan. Cover the stack of filo completely with a very damp paper towel. Set aside.

Melt the butter over a low flame or in the microwave.

Arrange the greased pan, filo, melted butter, and nut mixture in an assembly line for easier preparation.

Remove 1 cut filo sheet from the stack and place in the bottom of the greased pan. Brush with butter. Repeat with 7 additional sheets of filo, making sure to keep the filo covered with the damp towel in between each layering.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture evenly over the buttered filo.

Cover the nut mixture with 1 cut filo sheet and brush it with butter. Repeat with 5 more sheets of filo.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture evenly over the buttered filo.

Cover the nut mixture with 1 cut filo sheet and brush it with butter. Repeat with 5 more sheets of filo.

Sprinkle the remainder of the nut mixture over the buttered filo.