Another dish I made a dozen times, always with different ingredients, ways and results. Saragli or Sarayli is a traditional Greek sweet, similar to baklava. I've heard it also go by the name "Strifto", "Striftari" and so on. Here's how I did it last time. It was a big hit!
Ingredients:
1 box of ½ kg phyllo dough, room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup margarine
some crashed pistachio nuts for decoration
For the syrup:
1 ½ cups white sugar
¾ cup water
Juice from half a lemon
1 vanilla sachet
For the filling
150 grams of pine nuts, crashed or chopped (do not put it in the blender, it's gonna end up as nut-dust!)
1 tablespoon of brown cane sugar
1 vanilla sachet
Cinnamon to taste
Directions:
-1- Make the syrup first! Combine sugar, water, lemon juice and vanilla and bring to boil. Lower the heat to minimum and start stirring the syrup for the next 10 minutes over the fire. Move away from heat while still stirring and leave to cool completely.
-2- Combine butter and margarine and melt together.
-3- Mix the filling ingredients.
-4- Open the dough and take one phyllo at a time. Using a cooking brush, grease a phyllo with the butter mixture and place another phyllo right on top of the greased one. Leave 4-5 cm of empty space on the top and line a small amount of the nut filling along that height of the phyllo. Hold the phyllo above the nut filling and keep loosely rolling the phyllo all the way to the end.
-5- Hold the phyllo roll on your working surface using both hands. Start pressing the roll simultaneously on both edges towards the middle until you get a "pleated" roll of dough. That's the reason you should not roll the phyllo too tight, because it won't pleat enough to get a nice look. Continue combining every 2 phylla after greasing the first, placing a line of filling and rolling and pleating them, until your nut mixture finishes up.
-6- Arrange the "pleated" rolls in a greased round metallic baking tray shaped in a big "swirl". Using a clean sharp knife, cut the rolls into bite-sized pieces.
-7- Bake in a 200 Celsius preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until golden-brown.
-8- As soon as you get the pastry out the oven, pour over it the cooled syrup carefully. Make sure you pour enough syrup on every surface of the pastry. Sprinkle with crashed pistachio nuts and leave to rest overnight. It will absorb most of the syrup, but keep the crusty texture!
Enjoy at room temperature or cooled!
Tips:
-1- I used pine nuts, but traditionally almond or cassius nuts are used. Also, you can combine nuts to your taste!
-2- The phyllo dough is usually sold frozen. Defrost in the fridge the night before and then leave it in room temperature for about 2 hours before using it. It can dry very quickly, so open the package right at the very last minute before greasing it.
-3- The rule is hot pastry with cooled syrup or the other way around. I prefer cooled syrup, 'cause I find it keeps the hot pastry crunchy.
-4- My gas oven has the tendency to burn the downside of everything! What I did was to take out the pastry at half the time and turn it upside-down and bake it till the end of the time. came out looking just as good!
This is not my photo! Sorry I didn't take any pictures, but this is more or less how you are suppose to arrange the phyllo rolls. Don't worry if the rolls don't fully feel your dish, but keep a close eye on it while it's baking.
Photos of your tries and comments are always welcome!
**** 11/11/2015 Update - Here's the one I made last Sunday! Delicious! ****
Ingredients:
1 box of ½ kg phyllo dough, room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup margarine
some crashed pistachio nuts for decoration
For the syrup:
1 ½ cups white sugar
¾ cup water
Juice from half a lemon
1 vanilla sachet
For the filling
150 grams of pine nuts, crashed or chopped (do not put it in the blender, it's gonna end up as nut-dust!)
1 tablespoon of brown cane sugar
1 vanilla sachet
Cinnamon to taste
Directions:
-1- Make the syrup first! Combine sugar, water, lemon juice and vanilla and bring to boil. Lower the heat to minimum and start stirring the syrup for the next 10 minutes over the fire. Move away from heat while still stirring and leave to cool completely.
-2- Combine butter and margarine and melt together.
-3- Mix the filling ingredients.
-4- Open the dough and take one phyllo at a time. Using a cooking brush, grease a phyllo with the butter mixture and place another phyllo right on top of the greased one. Leave 4-5 cm of empty space on the top and line a small amount of the nut filling along that height of the phyllo. Hold the phyllo above the nut filling and keep loosely rolling the phyllo all the way to the end.
-5- Hold the phyllo roll on your working surface using both hands. Start pressing the roll simultaneously on both edges towards the middle until you get a "pleated" roll of dough. That's the reason you should not roll the phyllo too tight, because it won't pleat enough to get a nice look. Continue combining every 2 phylla after greasing the first, placing a line of filling and rolling and pleating them, until your nut mixture finishes up.
-6- Arrange the "pleated" rolls in a greased round metallic baking tray shaped in a big "swirl". Using a clean sharp knife, cut the rolls into bite-sized pieces.
-7- Bake in a 200 Celsius preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until golden-brown.
-8- As soon as you get the pastry out the oven, pour over it the cooled syrup carefully. Make sure you pour enough syrup on every surface of the pastry. Sprinkle with crashed pistachio nuts and leave to rest overnight. It will absorb most of the syrup, but keep the crusty texture!
Enjoy at room temperature or cooled!
Tips:
-1- I used pine nuts, but traditionally almond or cassius nuts are used. Also, you can combine nuts to your taste!
-2- The phyllo dough is usually sold frozen. Defrost in the fridge the night before and then leave it in room temperature for about 2 hours before using it. It can dry very quickly, so open the package right at the very last minute before greasing it.
-3- The rule is hot pastry with cooled syrup or the other way around. I prefer cooled syrup, 'cause I find it keeps the hot pastry crunchy.
-4- My gas oven has the tendency to burn the downside of everything! What I did was to take out the pastry at half the time and turn it upside-down and bake it till the end of the time. came out looking just as good!
This is not my photo! Sorry I didn't take any pictures, but this is more or less how you are suppose to arrange the phyllo rolls. Don't worry if the rolls don't fully feel your dish, but keep a close eye on it while it's baking.
Photos of your tries and comments are always welcome!
**** 11/11/2015 Update - Here's the one I made last Sunday! Delicious! ****
