Knafeh

Name: Knafeh
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 250 grams Kataifi dough; 1 cup butter, melted; 200 grams mozzarella, shredded; Handful pistachio, pan roast then roughly chopped; 1 cup water; 2 cups granulated sugar; 1/2 tsp orange blossom or rose water (optional); 2 tbsp lemon juice

alfredsanpedro @theweekenddinnerlog

Knafeh is a popular Middle Eastern dessert made with spun pastry called kataifi, layered with cheese, topped with pistachio or other nuts and soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup.

alfredsanpedro @theweekenddinnerlog

Knafeh is a popular Middle Eastern dessert made with spun pastry called kataifi, layered with cheese, topped with pistachio or other nuts and soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup.

Saved

Ingredients

250 gramsKataifi dough
1 cupbutter, melted
200 gramsmozzarella, shredded
Handfulpistachio, pan roast then roughly chopped
Sugar syrup:
1 cupwater
2 cupsgranulated sugar
1/2 tsporange blossom or rose water (optional)
2 tbsplemon juice

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Steps

1

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2

Cut the kataifi dough into shorter strands either by blitzing it in a food processor for several times or hand chopped it into half inch pieces.
3

Combine the dough with the melted butter. Mix throughly until the dough is evenly coated with butter.
4

Grease a 9-in pan, then transfer half of the dough into the pan. Distribute evenly and pack onto the base using a spoon or flat bottom of a glass. This will serve as your crust.
5

Layer on top with the mozzarella cheese. Leave at least half inch space around the outside so that the cheese will not leak out during baking.
6

Add the remaining half of the dough starting from the half inch space in the edges then the top. Gently press the side to seal the edges.
7

Bake for 45-60 minutes until golden brown. You may want to check after 30 minutes of the baking time just to estimate the total time needed to bake it.
8

While baking, prepare the sugar syrup. Bring to a gentle boil the sugar and water. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes then set aside. Once cooled, add the orange blossom or rose water and the lemon juice.
9

Once the knafeh is done, take out of the oven then immediate pour sugar syrup in a circular motion starting from the outside towards the centre. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with any left over syrup on the side.