Pistachio and Walnut Baklava

The Steps

1. To prepare nut filling, preheat oven to 350°F. Spread walnuts and pistachios on a baking sheet or in a shallow pan. Toast until lightly browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Cool. Transfer nuts to a food processor. Add sugar and ground cinnamon. Using on/off turns, pulse until nuts are ground to medium-fine texture. There should be about 3-3/4 cups.
2. To assemble the baklava, cut the phyllo in half crosswise to make sheets about 9×13 inches. Stack the phyllo and place in a plastic bag to prevent from drying. Make 3 layers of the nut filling as follows: In a 9×13-inch pan, layer 8-9 sheets of phyllo (1/4 of the phyllo), lightly brushing each sheet with melted butter. Each sheet does not need to be fully coated with butter it will even out as it bakes. Sprinkle the layer of phyllo evenly with 1/3 of the nuts (about 1-1/4 cups). Repeat two more times. Add the fourth layer of buttered phyllo and brush the top generously with the remaining butter. Chill until firm, 1 hour in refrigerator or ½ hour in freezer.
3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Cut chilled baklava into 24 squares. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
4. While baklava is baking prepare soaking syrup: In a small saucepan stir the sugar, water, honey, lemon peel, cinnamon stick and cloves; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Pour into a 2-cup glass measuring cup. There should be about 1-1/3 cups syrup, if it’s more than 1-1/2 cups simmer a little longer. Remove lemon peel, cinnamon stick and cloves with a slotted spoon; stir in lemon juice.