Baklava

Baklava is a delicious pastry dessert that supposedly originated in Turkey.  It's rich and buttery layers of thin pastry are sandwiched in between cinnamon and finely chopped nuts and then drenched in a sweet and sticky honey syrup.  I'm not a nut lover but this is fabulous, and nothing else says christmas like it!

Filling:

1 1/2 pounds walnuts or pecans, chopped very fine in food processor

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

40 sheets Athens Fillo Dough, thawed

1 c. butter melted

Syrup:

2 c. sugar

2 c. water

1 c. honey

Make syrup first thing, let cool down and put in fridge.  The baklava will soak up the liquid better if it is cold, if it is warm it tends to run off and onto the pan preventing it to soak up as much.

In a medium bowl, combine nuts, sugar, cinnamon, cloves.
Brush baking pan with melted butter. Place 8 sheets of fillo on the bottom of the pan, lightly brushing each sheet with butter as you place in the pan. Cover with 1/3 of the mixture. Layer 8 more fillo sheets on top, lightly buttering each sheet. Cover with 1/3 of the mixture.  Layer 8 more fillo sheets on top, lightly buttering each sheet.  Spread the remaining 1/3 of the mixture over the fillo and cover with remaining 16 sheets of dough lightly buttering each one. With a sharp knife, score fillo into 1 1/2" diamonds or squares. Brush top with butter. 
Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown.
Cool slightly and pour syrup evenly over baklava. Cool completely, cut and serve.