(makes approx 24 bite sized pieces)
After fracturing my arm in July and being unable to cook anything exciting for many weeks, *SoniaSadFace*, I am now fully recovered and back with a vengeance! And very inspired after my short trip to Athens at the start of August where I tracked down a few vegan places, so I’m gonna tell you a bit about those before I get into my recipe. Which is a mash up of Indian gajar halva and Mediterranean baklava. I just dug up these really sweet homegrown baby carrots, you see, so thought I’d get creative…
Avocado: Food For Life
Oh my gosh, THIS PLACE.
I nearly lost my mind and when I saw the sheer variety of food. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free heaven. After a long time of staring at the menu and realising I couldn’t order everything, I picked a starter and main:
- Mother Earth – Spinach tart with leeks, sun-dried tomatoes, dill and garlic topped with walnuts and almond shavings on an organic oat, amaranth and flaxseed crust. (6 Euros)
- Swaha – organic red and white quinoa served with a mushroom ragout and housemade organic soy/mushroom sausage. (11.50 Euros)
Everything looked so beautiful when it was placed in front of me I nearly wept into both plates. Local vegan beer too, happy days! I even went back before my flight so I could pick up a packed lunch for the plane home. Super delicious and healthy, it’s definitely the best vegan food I’ve ever had. The staff was really friendly and the décor was beaut. I would go to Athens again just to go back here.
Bamboo Vegan
This super cute little shop was a bit of a trek from where I was staying, but it was definitely worth the up hill walk in the sweltering heat, where it appeared like some mirage…
I was greeted by the lovely owner, Fotis, who was very knowledgeable about local places for great food, live music and of course the huge range of products in his shop. He was so nice and appreciated my time taken to find the store so much that he gave me some free, traditional Greek pastries. Vegan spanakopita (spinach pie) and galaktoboureko (custard pie – he’d used semolina flour in his vegan version). An absolute treat.
I brought back a few foodie items and will certainly have a go at making my own Greek vegan feast at some point 🙂
So now onto my recipe! I saw amazingly good looking baklava in Athens and couldn’t have any, so this had to happen:
INGREDIENTS
- 300g grated carrots
- 200g mixed nuts (I used walnuts and pistachios)
- 300g caster sugar
- 200ml water
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tbsp melted vegan margarine
- 6 sheets filo pastry (Jus Rol is vegan, yay)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
METHOD
- Melt a small amount of margarine in a pan, add the grated carrots, 100g of the sugar, the cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. Mix well and heat for about 5 mins on a medium heat until the sugar melts and the mix is nice and gooey. Leave to one side to cool to room temperature.
- The nuts need to be chopped finely – be lazy and put them in a food processor. Mix these in a big bowl with the cooled carrot mixture.
- Heat oven to 180C.
- In a pan, heat the 200ml water and the remaining 200g sugar for 10 mins on medium to make a syrup. Leave to one side as you assemble your baklava.
- Place one sheet of pastry in a large baking tin. Brush with some of the melted margarine, place another pastry sheet on top and brush again. Then spoon on half of the carrot/nut mixture. Repeat again – pastry, margarine, pastry, margarine, carrot/nut mix, pastry, margarine, pastry.
- Top the final sheet of pastry with the syrup. Just pour it all over evenly – do not worry if it looks too watery as it will reduce as it cooks in the oven.
- Cut across and to the bottom of the baklava in diagonals to form diamond shaped pieces. Place in the preheated oven for around 40 mins until it is golden brown and crispy.
Then take it out and eat it! Gajar halva is made with spices and nuts, bakalava is made with spices and nuts, so I reckon the addition of carrots to this works well. It looks like a lot of effort but it’s not at all.
Hope you like it 🙂
S.x
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