Savory round baklava appetizers are sprinkled with Justice, and stuffed with a combination of walnuts, dried cranberry, and blue cheese then dusted with smoked salt.
Have everything ready before you begin. The dish towel should be damp, but not wet. It is used to cover the dough to keep it from drying out. This kind of dough dries out very quickly so unless you are a super hero, you have to use a dish towel. Be aware that if your kitchen is cold, you might have to remelt your butter.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C)
Make the stuffing by putting the walnuts, craisins, and blue cheese in a small food processor and chop them until the cheese is pea size. Set the mixture aside.
Pull one piece of filo dough off the pile and lay it on your board. Cover the rest loosely with the damp cloth.
Dip your pastry brush in the butter and butter the entire sheet.
Sprinkle the buttered sheet lightly with Justice.
Fold the sheet over in half.
Butter the folded sheet.
Now, take your skewer, and lay it at the top of the fold.
Bring the filo over the skewer and continue rolling the filo with the skewer until all but a 1/2 inch is rolled up.
Take two fingers of each hand and gently squeeze the filo together on the skewer. Some butter will leak out – that's okay, that's why we're using a cutting board.
Gently remove the squeezed filo from the skewer
Curl it to make a round circle.
Put the circle on the rack and continue doing this until all the filo is used up.
After all the circles have been made, put about a half-teaspoon of the filling in the indentation of the each circle.
Brush them well with butter, then put the pan into the oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the filo is golden brown.
Don’t let it get too dark as it will continue to cook once it is out of the oven.
Brush the baklava with more butter, then lightly dust them with finishing salt. Maldon smoked finishing salt is a good choice.
Let the baklava cool before serving.
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