SARALIJA - OLD MACEDONIAN DESSERT RECIPE

Saralija is a dessert very similar to baklava, also soaked in syrup. It's made with shrink filo pastry aligned in a circular form in a round pan. Saralija used to be prepared for all holidays and celebrations in the past.

Ingredients:

For filo pastry

• 600-700 g flour
• 200 ml water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 5 g baking powder (half a sachet)
• pinch of salt
• or you can just buy ready filo dough 500 g from the market

 For the filling:

• 200 g semolina
• 200 g of finely ground walnuts
• 100 ml cooking oil
• 1 vanilla sugar (10 g)
• 1 lemon zest

 For the syrup:

• 1 kg sugar
• 1 l water
• 1 vanilla sugar (10 g)
• juice of 1 lemon

Preparation:

1.  Sift the flour, mix it with baking powder and a little salt, gradually add water and oil and mix the dough. It is important to note that the amount of water may vary depending on the flour. 
2. The dough is divided into 7-8 balls and dragged one by one on a floured board with a rolling pin.  If you're using ready pastry, use several layers, depending on how thick they are. Sprinkle each layer with oil and water mixture.
3. Put some oil in a pan on the fire to fry semolina. When semolina is thickened, add vanilla sugar and lemon zest, then mix. 
4. Each crust sprinkle with oil, semolina and nuts, then pull on both sides inward, like a drill. 
5. Place in the middle of a round greased tray № 32 and in a form of a circle. 
6. Each crust is filled the same way and placed in the tray in a circle, starting from the place where the the previous crust ended. 
   
7. When the pan is full, cut saralija in pieces and bake in preheated oven at 160-170 C degrees for about 40 minutes until lightly tanned. 
8. The syrup is made as following:  sugar is placed in a pot and poured with water. Add the juice of one lemon and 1 vanilla sugar and put on fire to simmer. 
9. Saralija must be cooled prior to pour the hot syrup.

Enjoy!