Halvah

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

3 c Water
2 c Granulated sugar
1 Cinnamon stick
3 Whole cloves
1 Lemon (peel only)
1/2 c Butter
1 c Coarse semolina or farina
4 tb Pine nuts
2 tb Blanched chopped almonds
3 tb Whole blanched almonds

Instructions:

Combine the water sugar cinnamon stick cloves and lemon peel (or 1 tablespoon lemon juice) in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes then cool. Meanwhile slowly melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and cook for several minutes without browning. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon slowly add the semolina or farina. Cook over low heat until the mixture turns a golden chestnut color; do not brown. Add 2 tablespoons of the pine nuts and chopped almonds and continue cooking 1 more minute. Remove cinnamon stick cloves and peel from the cooled syrup. Gradually add the syrup to the semolina mixture stirring with a long-handled wooden spoon; the mixture will bubble furiously. Cook over the lowest possible heat until the syrup has been absorbed and the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and drape with a clean towel for 10 minutes. Turn into a mold spreading with a knife or a spatula. Cool then reverse onto a serving platter sprinkle with cinnamon and garnish decoratively with the remaining pine nuts and the whole almonds. Cut into small diamond-shaped pieces. From: "The Food of Greece" by Vilma Liacouras Chantiles. Avenel Books New York. Typed for you by Karen Mintzias