PISTACHIO AND HAZELNUT BRIOUAT

PISTACHIO AND HAZELNUT BRIOUAT

Do you know the feeling when you discover that you’ve just made your actual favourite-most delicious-cookie-in the entire world taste a zillion times better? That’s a very special feeling and it doesn’t happen everyday. That’s how I felt the first time I tasted my pistachio and hazelnut briouates. It made me feel like dancing and jumping around. Seriously.

I always loved the almond ones, my mum used to make them only during Ramadan when we were kids. I remember getting very excited every time Ramadan would approach because I will get to sneak in the kitchen and eat my favourite cookies whenever I want.

The result tastes amazing, think: if a baklava and an almond briouat would have a baby the result would be these delicious pistachio and hazelnut briouates.

They are just succulent. They taste a bit like pistachio and a bit like hazelnut, they are lightly fragrant, beautifully coated in honey, crunchy on the outside and will literally melt in your mouth! A party for your senses.  

INGREDIENTS

• 150 gr blanched hazelnuts
• 150 gr unsalted shelled pistachios
• 80 gr caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange blossom water, divided
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground dried ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 30 gr unsalted butter, softened
• 20 gr unsalted butter melted
• 200 gr filo pastry
• 300 gr honey
• Ground nuts or chopped dried fruits for decoration

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).
2. Place the blanched hazelnuts in a baking tray and bake in the oven until lightly tan, about 10 to 15 min (middle shelve). Give the hazelnuts a good stir halfway through cooking.
3. In a nut grinder or a food processor transfer the roasted hazelnuts, the pistachios, the caster sugar, 2 tablespoons orange blossom water, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Process until finely ground or until the nuts start looking like a rough paste.
4. Transfer the nut mixture into a bowl and add in the butter. Mix until the ingredients are combined all together and knead to a solid mass.
5. Unroll the filo and cut the pastry lengthways into 6 cm large and 30 cm long rectangles. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry and keep the filo rectangles covered with a damp towel until ready to use to prevent from drying out.
6.  On a work surface, place a filo rectangle and brush it with melted butter. Top the corner of the rectangle with a spoonful of pistachio and hazelnut paste and fold to form a triangle, up to the right and left, until a brioua (singular of briouate) is formed.
7. Repeat until you’ve exhausted all the nut paste.
8. Brush the small briouate with melted butter and place in the oven to cook for 10 to 12 min until golden.
9. Meanwhile heat the honey with 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water. Avoid burning by controlling the heat (once the the honey is foamy you should reduce the heat).