Ingredients:
Syrup:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
juice of 1/2 a small lemon
2 tbsp. honey
1 lb. fillo (phyllo) dough
1 1/2 cups clarified unsalted butter, melted (3/4 lb.)
1 cup shelled hemp seed (5 oz.)
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped (2 1/2 oz.)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, ground
1/4 tsp. cloves, ground
Method:
Put all ingredients for syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes. Cool and refrigerate for later.
Preheat oven to 325° F. Mix together the hemp seed, pistachios, sugar, and spices and set aside. Freshly grated nutmeg and freshly ground cloves are best. Unroll the fillo dough on your counter. With a sharp knife cut the fillo dough in half to fit your baking dish. Cover the two stacks of the fillo dough with plastic wrap and a damp dishtowel. You can use just the dish towel if you wring it out very well and work quickly. Dried out fillo dough is next to impossible to work with.
With a two inch or larger pastry brush butter the bottom of a 16 x 10 x 2 inch Pyrex baking dish (it says 38 x 25 x 4 cm on the bottom of mine) with the melted butter. Lay in one half-pound stack of fillo dough one sheet at a time brushing each sheet with the melted butter as you go. Evenly sprinkle reserved nut mixture over buttered fillo dough. Lay in the other half-pound stack of fillo dough one sheet at a time brushing each sheet with the melted butter as you go. Remember to keep the fillo dough covered as you work.
Cut pastry into diamond shapes about 1 1/2" x 2" with a sharp knife, cut through nut layer, but not all the way through. Bake at 325° F for 1 hour and fifteen minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. Pour cold syrup evenly over hot pastry. Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from pan.
Notes: This dish is a little work, but is well worth it!
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