Pistachios, warm spices, a drizzle of honey and goat cheese are quick rolled in a few phyllo pastries for a short-cut method to the traditional phyllo desserts.
Middle Eastern Pastries
Arabic pastries are about the healthiest sweets you will ever eat! Nuts, honey, dried fruits encased in a crunchy golden pastry shell as thin as paper.
I’ve been making these pastries since I was a kid. A variety of ingredients can be used, and a variety of ways to assemble, but in the end they are always inviting.
Special Occasion Pastries
A dessert ingredient that most Mediterranean countries have in common is nuts. They are crushed into flour or rough chopped and used in so many delicious desserts.
- Chestnut Linzer Cookies – Cranberry Orange Jam Linzer Cookies are a double window, holiday cookie, with cinnamon, cloves, chestnut flour, butter and mascarpone.
- Almond Date Cookies – Guilt-free Almond Cookies Sweetened With Dates pack a healthy crunchy with almond and oat flour, homemade almond butter and date syrup.
- Pistachio Ouzo Cookies – Crushed pistachio flour and anise flavored Ouzo liquor for a very Greek cookie.
Quick vs Traditional Phyllo Pastries
As a kid, we only made these pastries one way; the long way. Hours and hours of crushing nuts by hand, basting layers of pastry, layering, cutting and baking.
One day, after a last minute guest announced they were stopping by, I wanted to serve coffee and pastries. None were tucked away in the freezer.
Pistachios and Honey
With only a handful of phyllo sheets, some crushed pistachios, a little Chèvre and honey, I rolled the pastries like a cigar, instead of the laborious baking pan with over 50 pastries per pan. Cut, baked and drizzled with honey.
This quick method has become my new way of making the traditional pastries I grew up making.
The addition of a little goat cheese provided a denser texture and kept the crushed nuts from falling out, as they often do.
Now, when I make my traditional Baklawa (Baklava in Greek), I put an egg in with the nuts mixture which holds the filling together beautifully.
Ingredients Needed
- Pistachios
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Chèvre cheese
- Honey
- Phyllo dough
- Butter
- Orange
Equipment Needed
- Spice grinder or food processor
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cup
- Basting brush
- Melting pot – for butter
- Citrus zester
- Baking sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- Stovetop or microwave – to melt butter
- Oven
Quick Pistachio and Honey Pastry
Equipment
- cookie sheet pan
- Basting brush
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pistachios
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon ground
- 1/2 tsp Cloves ground
- 2 tbsp Goat cheese chevre, soft
- 1/4 cup Honey extra for drizzle
- 6 Phyllo dough sheets
- 6 tbsp Butter melted
- 1 tbsp Orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Crush nuts, and spices together. Add cheese and honey, and blend.
- Brush melted butter lightly across 3 layers of phyllo dough sheets.
- Place half of the filling in a log at one end of the sheets. Roll the end over, brush with butter, continue rolling and brushing until the roll is complete. Repeat this with the remaining 3 phyllo sheets and filling.
- Make small diagonal slices across the top of the roll, taking care not to cut all the way through. Baste again with butter.
- Bake until the crust is golden, about 25-minutes
- Drizzle more honey across the top while still warm, grate orange zest. Cool, and slice the remainder of the way through.
Video
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.