I love baklavas but because of their relatively high sugar content I tend not to make them very often. On the other side “Suva Pita sa Makom” or Poppy Seed Filo Pastry (the closest translation I could come up with) reminds a lot of baklava, but has only about 1/4 of sugar, that baklava of a similar size has. To be clear, this is not any kind of “dietary baklava”, “half baklava” or something along those lines. Suva pita, or directly translated “a dry pie” is a unique desert in its own right. Process of making it is in a way similar to baklava, but different enough to fall in separate category. It is a filo layered pastry with filling, traditionally being ground walnuts or poppy seeds, moistened with sugar based syrup. I love both of these fillings, but this time I went with the poppy seeds. Recognizable and pleasant poppy seed flavor and aroma, coupled with some fine crunchy mouthfeel is what I missed.
This is a very simple recipe and does not require any special culinary skill. In about hours time you can have a beautiful and rich homemade pastry that you will be proud of.
The recipe has been adapted from a Serbian food blog “Ko to tamo…”
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
|
- 500 g filo pastry package
- 400 g poppy seeds ground
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 200 ml vegetable oil for brushing
- 250 g granulated sugar
- 250 ml cold water
- 1 lemon sliced
Ingredients
Pastry
Syrup
|
|
- Grind poppy seeds using a blade grinder or a poppy seed grinder.
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C (355 °F), rack in the middle.
- Using a pastry brush coat the bottom of 400 mm x 230 mm x 50 mm (15 3/4" x 9" x 2") baking pan.
- Line the bottom of the baking pan with the first filo pastry sheet. The filo sheet length will match the baking pan length. Since filo sheet is wider than the baking pan fold it back at the pan's corner.
- Brush or sprinkle the top of the filo sheet with vegetable oil, sprinkle evenly across the whole surface couple table spoons of ground poppy seeds. Sprinkle little granular sugar on top.
- Line the baking pan with the second filo pastry sheet, starting from the end of the first sheet, and again fold the sheet at the pan edges in order to fit to the baking pan. Repeat with brushing with oil, sprinkling ground poppy seeds and sugar.
- Repeat the whole process until all the filo sheets and ground poppy seeds are used up. The last stacked filo sheet will be without any filling, it will be empty.
- With a sharp knife carefully cut the stacked pastry into 50 mm (2") squares.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Prepare the syrup during baking time.
- Laddle the syrup by pouring along the pastry cut edges. Spread lemon slices on top of it. Let it fully soak in, cool completely, the best if left overnight.
- Add sugar and water to a medium size sauce pan. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Over medium high heat bring it to a full boil and then add sliced lemon to it. Let it come to a boil again, keep it for couple of more minutes and then take off the heat.
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