This week’s recipe seems like a recipe for the little ones…but adults appreciate it a lot more than kids! Pasteli is a very popular snack made of sesame and honey that comes in flat cookie shaped candies or bars. It is indeed the ancestor of our modern times energy bar, and thanks to tradition it still tastes extremely good today!
Pasteli‘s ingredients are very simple, yet nutritious. The recipe has been around for over 6,000 years, and unlike other foods Pasteli is mentioned by some relevant historians like Herodotus and Hippocrates, who speaks of it as an important source of nutrition. So does Homer in the Iliad when he refers to Pasteli as the nutrition for warriors so that they could endure their strength. Sesame and honey are a perfect combination for antioxidants, copper, manganese and other vital nutrients that our body needs especially during fatigue or recovery. So it is a candy that can be adequately presented like a dessert, but it is extremely healthy!
Pasteli can be found in many variations, but the original one is purely made of sesame seeds and honey. Although we do like to stick to the classic version, we wanted to give you something different and more fun, that both kids and parents like. The choice fell on the Sesame, Pistachio and Honey Pasteli.
Ingredients:
Mild vegetable oil for the work surface
3/4 cup + 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup shelled pistachios, broken in half
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup mild-flavored runny honey
Prepare a bowl with iced water and a flat oil-slicked work surface or flat plate.
In a nonstick skillet toast the sesame seeds and the pistachio until they turn slightly into brown. Do not burn them. Add the sugar to the seeds and pistachios in the skillet and cook over low heat until the sugar melts and gets a pale golden color. Carefully add the honey to the skillet and stir it quickly without stopping until everything is combined together. Remember to be quick because everything will start to get hard and sticky.
On a oil-slicked surface flatten the mixer with an oiled spoon. Wet your hands with the iced water and start shaping the Pasteli in a rectangular shape that you will level and stretch with a rolling pin. Let the Pasteli dry for a few minutes and cut it in squares or triangles.
~Enjoy!
Recipe and photo courtesy of Leitesculinaria.com
Rometti Limoncello 