A couple of weeks ago on twitter I asked Anissa if she could recommend some cook books as I was about to splurge on AbeBooks. One of the books Anissa suggested was The Modern Vegetarian by Maria Elia. The book finally arrived in the mail last Friday and I have since read it from cover to cover.

Although Maria grew up in the kitchen of her Greek Cypriot father's restaurant in London, her recipes demonstrate an eclectic love of world favours. It was only after reading the book and talking to Anissa that I found out that indeed it was Anissa who taught Maria the 'delights of Moroccan cuisine'. Hence, this savoury tomato and Medjool date baklava is yet one example of Maria's versatility and broad culinary landscape.

In this particular recipe Maria suggests that you use fresh tomatoes. Unfortunately tomatoes are not in season yet in Melbourne as we are at the tail end of winter. Being the impatient sort that I am I didn't want to wait months before trying this baklava so I decided to use sun-dried tomatoes instead. The end result was magnificent and the baklava was delicious served warm for dinner that night and equally impressive served cold the next day.

I highly recommend Maria's book as it will not disappoint!

Savoury Baklava with Tomato, Fetta, Almond & Medjool Dates

Adapted from The Modern Vegetarian 2009

Ingredients

2 Spanish onions, finely sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

200g sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed & drained

250g almonds, roughly chopped

250g fetta cheese, crumbled

10 Medjool dates, pitted & finely chopped

A bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped

80g unsalted butter, melted

9 sheets of filo pastry

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup of water

Olive oil

Honey

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4

2. In a large pan gently fry the onions and garlic in some olive oil over a low heat. Add the cinnamon and sugar and fry for 6-8 minutes until caramelized. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, water and dill and cook for another 5 minutes until reduced.

3. Brush an 8 x 12 inch baking dish with some melted butter and then line the base of the dish with a sheet of filo pastry that has been brushed with butter. Repeat the process three times until you have a 3-layer thickness.

4. Spread half the onion, tomato mixture evenly over the filo pastry and top with half the almonds and dates and half the fetta. Sandwich another three layers of filo pastry together, brushing each with some melted butter. Top with the other half of the onion, tomato mixture and the remaining almonds, dates and fetta. Finally top with a 3-layer thickness of filo that has been brushed with melted butter.

5. Lightly score the top of the baklava into diamond shapes and splash with a little water. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Let the baklava cool a little and then drizzle each portion with a little honey before serving.