Recipes Chocolate-Hazelnut Baklava 5.0 (3,148) 2 Reviews Chef Way Ana Sortun's pastry chef, Maura Kilpatrick, adds cinnamon and cocoa nibs to the syrup that soaks her chocolate baklava.Easy Way The baklava is fabulous even with a basic honey syrup; no need for cocoa nibs and cinnamon. Slideshow: More Chocolate Desserts By Ana Sortun Ana Sortun F&W Star Chef » See All F&W Chef Superstars Restaurants: Oleana, Sofra (Cambridge, MA) Education: La Varenne Cooking School, Paris What are you known for? Using spices and eastern Mediterranean flavors. Favorite cookbooks of all time. All of Greg Malouf’s books, for his creative view on Middle Eastern food, his ability put a personal, modern touch on something so traditional. What’s one technique everyone should know? How to mince garlic using the back of a knife. I don’t mean smashing it—I mean literally slicing it with the opposite, dull edge of the blade. It minces the garlic finely without juicing it up too much. Best-bang-for-the-buck food trip? Turkey, particularly Istanbul or Gaziantep. Istanbul’s not so cheap but the street food is—I love to get the tripe sandwiches and fried mussels in the market. Gazientep is inexpensive. It’s the food capital of Turkey. I love the restaurant Imam Cagdas. If you could invent a restaurant for an imaginary project, what would it be? Some type of cool community center with classes and a bunch of different cafés. There are several where I’m from in Seattle, but none out here in Boston. What is your current food obsession? Sprouted things, like lentils and grains. I’ve been experimenting with some sprouting projects. I soak the beans or grains, then spread them out on a big sheet tray and cover them with a wet towel. We’ve been putting the sprouts in salads mostly, with storage—crop vegetables like shaved carrots, cabbage or turnips. Describe a meal that tells your story as a chef. I first went to Turkey about 15 years ago, invited by some friends. I didn’t know anything about the country. We went to Gaziantep, where they arranged a potluck lunch. Thirty-five women each brought a different recipe they cherished. That’s where I first tasted the spice combinations we now use—unusual ones like sumac and dried spearmint and different red peppers, or cumin combined with cinnamon. Nothing was heavily spiced, but their bright flavors were like nothing I had never imagined before. Salads, vegetables cooked in yogurt, tiny bulgur meatballs braised with eggplant and tomato—the style of food and the flavors inspired me to start studying what I make now. What do you eat straight out of the fridge, standing up? Oh, my god, what don’t I eat straight out of the fridge standing up? I don’t think I can narrow it down to one thing. Best new store-bought ingredient? Kalamata olives from Paul Hatziiliades of Extra Virgin Foods. He’s bringing some great stuff in from Greece (extravirginfoods.com). I’ve always hated kalamatas since they’re usually mushy and overbrined, but his are the most exquisite ones I’ve ever had in my life. They come from a small estate. Favorite online shop?Ritrovo.com. They have some beautiful things from Italy; we use their Controne peppers at Sofra, our bakery. It’s a dried pepper somewhat like Urfa or Aleppo pepper, but with more heat. Theirs is made by one man, who sorts the peppers by hand and dries them in the sun. Favorite app? ChefsFeed, for eating out when I’m traveling. I used it when I was in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. They’ve done an amazing job. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 24, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Kana Okada Active Time: 1 hrs Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Yield: 24 pieces Ingredients 1 pound hazelnuts 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 2 2/3 cups sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 pound phyllo dough 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted 2 cups water 1 1/2 cups honey Directions Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, until the skins are blistered; let cool. Leave the oven on. Transfer the nuts to a kitchen towel and rub off the skins, then transfer to a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the chocolate, 2/3 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon to the food processor and pulse until the chocolate and nuts are finely chopped and the same size. Unwrap the phyllo and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan. Butter and stack 8 sheets of phyllo. Trim the edges. Ease the stack into the pan. Sprinkle about 2 cups of the filling over the phyllo. Butter and stack 2 more phyllo sheets; fold them in half crosswise and place over the filling. Sprinkle on another 2 cups of the filling. Top with 2 more buttered, folded sheets and 2 cups of filling. Butter and stack 3 more phyllo sheets, fold them in half and place over the filling. Fold in the overhanging phyllo on top and brush generously with butter. Using a ruler and a sharp knife, cut the baklava (through the top and bottom) into 3-inch squares (there will be a bit left on one long side). Cut each square in half to make triangles. Bake the baklava for 25 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 300° and bake for 50 minutes longer, until golden. In a saucepan, bring the water, honey and the remaining 2 cups of sugar to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Immediately ladle the hot syrup over the hot baklava and let stand until completely cool, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. Rate it Print