Boughasha I
Description
"Cigar" pastries with walnut filling
Ingredients
- 3 oz shelled walnuts, finely chopped
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- ½ lb butter, cut into bits and clarified
- 14 sheets phyllo pastry, each about 14 inches long and 12, thoroughly defrosted if frozen
Syrup
- 1¼ lbs sugar
- ½ pint water
- 2½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon rose water
Procedures
- Stir the chopped walnuts and the 1½ tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl and set the mixture aside.
- Preheat the oven to Mark 6 / 400°F.
- Grease 2 baking sheets with 1 oz. of the butter, using a pastry brush.
- Assemble each "cigar" in the following way:
- Brush one sheet of phyllo evenly with 3/4 teaspoon of the butter.
- Fold the sheet in half crosswise to make a two-layered rectangle about 12 inches long and 7 inches wide.
- Brush the top with about ½ teaspoon of the butter.
- Make a 1-inch-wide fold on the closed side of the pastry and brush the fold lightly with butter.
- Sprinkle a teaspoon or so of the walnut mixture in an even row along its length, and roll the phyllo into a tight cylinder, about 1 inch in diameter.
- Assemble the remaining sheets of phyllo in the same way.
- Gently transfer the rolls to the baking sheet, and brush the tops lightly with the rest of the butter.
- Bake in the top part of the oven for about 20 minutes, until the rolls are crisp and a delicate golden brown.
- Then slide them carefully onto a large serving dish.
- Meanwhile, make the syrup.
- Bring the sugar, water and lemon juice to the boil over high heat in a small, heavy saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Cook briskly, undisturbed, until the syrup reaches a temperature of 220°F on a sugar-boiling thermometer, or a small bit dripped into iced water immediately forms a coarse thread.
- Add the rose water and pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl or jug, and let it cool to lukewarm.
- To serve, cut the rolls into 2-inch lengths and arrange them attractively on a serving plate.
- Moisten the warm pastry with a little syrup and serve the rest separately in a small jug.
