Passport & Plate - Almond, pistachio and rose water M'hannahcha
Morocco | Tuesday, March 3, 2015 | 2 photos
Ingredients
375g Butter
375g Icing Sugar
375g Ground Almonds
3 large eggs
Four Tablespoons Rose Water
Tablespoon Plain Flour
Zest of Lemon and Orange
50g Pistachios
9 sheets of Filo Pastry
How to prepare this recipeCream together 375g each of butter and icing sugar until thoroughly combined, then carefully beat in three large eggs, one at a time. Gently mix together into a vaguely loose textured mixture that perked up enormously when I added 375g of ground almonds.
Carry on mixing gently, and add four tablespoons of rose water, a heaped tablespoon of plain flour and the zest of a lemon and an orange. As a last ingredient, mix in 50g of roughly crushed pistachio nuts.
Lay out nine sheets of filo pastry on a clean surface, short side towards the edge, so that they overlap by about four or five centimetres.
Carefully spoon the almond mixture along the length of the pastry, about eight or ten centimetres from the bottom edge, and leaving at least ten centimetres clear at either end. Fold the ends over the filling, then lift the bottom edge over until the almond paste is completely encased. Now just roll the pastry away from you to form a big Moroccan cigar, keeping the pastry tucked in nice and tightly, so that the roll is neat and tidy.
When everything is rolled up, take one end and very carefully start to coil the roll up. Be very gentle – the pastry is delicate and will split.
Slide the coiled pastry onto a large baking tray.
Bake for forty to forty-five minutes in an oven pre-heated to 180c, or until the pastry is a rich golden colour. The pastry may burst around the edges a little in the oven…if it does, just cut away the overflowing filling with a sharp knife when the cake comes out of the oven.
Allow to cool a little, dust liberally with icing sugar and serve warm with PROPER vanilla ice cream.
The story behind this recipeLast Christmas I wanted to spoil my partner, we'd had a awful previous year littered with events throughout a cold and grey winter. I decided to book a trip, a break to the bejewelled, vibrant city of Marrakech.
Leaving a chilly, blustery Gatwick, we'd packed our knits and boots still with the weather forecast seeming changeable.. even in Africa. As we stepped off the plane we'd already fallen in love with the buzz of the city, the Riad's with trickling fountains, the rising steam from street food vendors and the rootftop mojitos. We befriended a local cab driver almost instantly, Abdul picked us up early on our first morning and took us through the winding back streets of the medina, soon clocking on to my enthused 'ooo's' and 'ahhs' of the wonderful array of spice markets and foods.
It was then he recommended Maison D'arabe. The most prestigious & beautiful hotel in Morocco which had been host to the likes of Mick Jagger & Winston Churchill. He told us of their undiscovered cookery school which we booked on to straight away. The next day we spent the duration in paradise, being showered with mint tea, warm flat breads. We were gifted terrecota tagines and made their chicken speciality with fresh olives and preserved lemons. As we sat in the unexpected streaming sun in our little piece of paradise eating our own made M'hanncha, every worry lifted away. The crunch of the filo, the soft fragrence of the rose. Those flavours in that moment epitomised complete happiness to us.
On our return we were quick to share our recipes and finds. It has now become a party favourite of mine and Stef's. And every time, it takes us back to that very first moment of vanillay, nutty goodness.
