Recipe: Halvah

HALVAH
Source: The Food of Greece by Vilma Liacouras Chantiles. Avenel Books, New York
Servings: 12

3 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1 lemon (peel only)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup coarse semolina or farina
4 tablespoons pine nuts, divided use
2 tablespoons chopped blanched almonds
ground cinnamon (for garnish)
3 tablespoons whole blanched almonds (for garnish)

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.