This is a festive, savory twist on traditional sweet baklava—and honestly, it might be even more irresistible. Roasted, spiced butternut squash combines with crunchy walnuts and pistachios, brightened with lemon zest and enriched with creamy feta. All of this is tucked into crisp, golden filo pastry, baked to perfection in a Season Cast Iron Shallow Casserole, then drizzled with fragrant honey and a hint of orange blossom water. Cut into bite-sized squares, it’s the perfect canapé or appetiser that’s bursting with flavour and guaranteed to impress.
Number of servings: 8-10 (appetiser)
Cooking time: 2 hours
Preparation time: 1 hour
Ingredients
For the Spiced Squash Filling:
Butternut squash: 300g, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
Olive oil: 2 tbsp
Ground cumin: 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon: 1 tsp
Turmeric: 1 tsp
Ground coriander: 1 tsp
Chilli flakes: ¼ tsp (optional)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper: to taste
For the Baklava Assembly:
Filo pastry: 7 sheets
Unsalted butter: 60g, melted
Feta cheese: 80g, crumbled
Roasted pistachios: 20g, roughly chopped
Roasted walnut: 20g, roughly chopped
Lemon zest: 1 lemon
Salt: to taste
For the Honey Glaze:
Honey: 50g
Orange blossom water: 1 tbsp
Method
Roast the Squash
Preheat your oven to 200°C (fan 180°C).
Peel the skin off the butternut squash, brush it lightly with melted butter, and dice into 1 cm cubes.
Toss the butternut squash cubes with olive oil, ground cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, ground coriander, and chilli flakes. Spread evenly on a baking tray and roast for 35 minutes, tossing halfway, until golden and caramelised.
Once cooled slightly, transfer to a mixing bowl. Add chopped walnuts and pistachios, lemon zest, and crumbled feta, then mix well and season to taste.
Prepare the Filo Base
Brush the bottom of your Season Cast Iron Shallow Casserole with melted butter.
Place one sheet of filo pastry in the casserole, flattening it to touch the bottom. Brush with melted butter, then repeat twice more, so you have three layers of filo, brushing butter between each layer.
Spread the spiced squash and nut mixture evenly over the filo layers. If any filo edges hang over the casserole, fold them inward and brush with butter.
Place another sheet of filo over the filling, brush with melted butter, and repeat three more times, brushing butter between each layer.
Score the Baklava
Using the Season Paring Knife, score lines across the top, then diagonally to create the classic baklava diamond shape. You can also score into squares if you prefer. Scoring makes it easier to portion after baking—score according to the size you want. Brush the top layer with extra melted butter.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes, checking every 20 minutes, until the baklava is golden and crispy.
Finish
In a small saucepan, combine honey and orange blossom water and bring to a gentle boil, until the honey becomes runny and pourable. Once the baklava is baked, immediately drizzle the warm honey mixture over the top.
Let it cool slightly, sprinkle with chopped nuts to garnish, then cut along the scored lines. Serve as bite-sized canapés or an elegant appetiser.
