Bird’s Nests ‘Ish il-‘Asfour

Name: Bird’s Nests ‘Ish il-‘Asfour
Yield: Makes about 20 large nests
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: 1 recipe Egg-white Nut Filling; or 2 cups (8 oz/225 g) whole, shelled and skinned pistachios; One 16 oz/450 g package fillo dough, thawed; ½ to ¾ cup (4–6 oz/115–175 g) melted butter (or half butter and half oil); ½ cup (2 oz/60 g) ground nuts mixed with ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

Preparation info

Makes about
20
large nests

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

Impressively shaped baklawa. Traditionally, the ‘nests’ are filled with whole, shelled and skinned pistachios. The Egg-white Nut Filling is good, too.

Ingredients

One 16 oz/450 g package fillo dough, thawed
½ to ¾ cup (<

Asia
Iraq
Pastry
Dessert
Vegetarian

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.
Lay flat one whole sheet of fillo. Lightly brush half of it with butter. Fold sheet in half crosswise, and lightly brush entire surface. Keep rest of sheets covered with a dry kitchen towel, away from drafts.