Ingredients

• 9 medium carrots
• peeled
• coarsely grated
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes
• 125g/4½oz peeled pistachios
• roughly chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ orange
• juice and zest
• ½ lemon
• juice and zest
• 3 tbsp ground almonds
• 3 star anise
• 150g/5oz clear honey
• 250g/9oz caster sugar
• 150g/5oz unsalted butter
• melted
• 500g/1lb 2oz ready-made filo pastry

Directions

• Gather the grated carrot into a clean tea towel
• sprinkle with the salt and set aside for at least an hour
• or ideally overnight
• so that the salt can absorb the moisture from the carrots.
• Squeeze the carrots in the tea towel to remove any excess moisture
• then transfer the carrot to a bowl and stir in the pistachios
• ground cinnamon
• orange and lemon zest and ground almonds until well combined. Set aside.
• Heat the star anise
• honey and sugar in a heavy-based saucepan until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is just coming up to the boil.
• Add the lemon and orange juices
• and 200ml/7fl oz water
• stir well
• then remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
• Strain the cooled syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl
• then cover and chill in the fridge until needed.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
• Grease the inside of the baking tin with a little of the melted butter. Working quickly
• brush each sheet of filo pastry all over with melted butter. Arrange one-third of the filo sheets in layers at the bottom of the baking tin.
• Spread half of the carrot mixture in an even layer on top of the filo pastry. Arrange half of the remaining buttered filo sheets on top of the carrot mixture.
• Repeat the process with the remaining carrot mixture and top with the remaining sheets of buttered filo pastry. Trim the edges of the pastry block using a sharp knife.
• Cut the baklava into equally sized diamond shapes
• about 5cm/2in across
• then transfer the baking tin to the oven and bake the baklava for 35-40 minutes
• or until the pastry is crisp
• puffed up and golden-brown.
• Remove the baklava from the oven and pour over half of the chilled syrup. Set aside for 5 minutes to soak
• then pour over the remaining syrup. Set aside to cool slightly
• then serve.