Knafeh recipe

The Nablus cheese pastry, built on brined cheese soaked free of its salt and flipped out orange side up.

9 hoursmedium8 ingredients

Ingredients

• 700 g nabulsi cheese
• 500 g kataifi pastry
• 200 g ghee
• 500 g sugar
• 350 ml water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 pinch orange food colouring
• 50 g ground pistachios

How to make Knafeh

1. Soak 700 g nabulsi or akkawi cheese in cold water for 8 hours, changing the water every hour, then slice it and pat it dry; the cheese is sold in brine and desalting it is the step the dish depends on.
2. Melt 200 g ghee, stir a pinch of orange food colouring into a third of it and brush a round tray with that coloured ghee.
3. Rub the rest of the ghee into 500 g shredded kataifi pastry with your hands for 5 minutes until every strand is coated.
4. Press the pastry firmly over the base of the tray in one even layer; the Nabulsi version is not a sandwich, the cheese goes on top and nothing covers it.
5. Spread the cheese over the pastry and press it down flat.
6. Bake at 200 °C for 30 to 35 minutes until the edges bubble and the base is deep orange.
7. Boil 500 g sugar with 350 ml water for 8 minutes, stir in 1 teaspoon lemon juice and let the syrup cool completely.
8. Flip the tray onto a serving board straight out of the oven so the coloured crust faces up, pour the cold syrup over the hot knafeh and scatter 50 g ground pistachios.

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