Knafeh recipe

The Nablus version: desalted white brined nabulsi cheese under a single coloured pastry crust cooked on the stovetop and flipped.

7 hours and 50 minuteshard9 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g nabulsi cheese
• 400 g kataifi dough
• 200 g ghee
• 400 g sugar
• 250 ml water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water
• 1 pinch orange food coloring
• 60 g pistachios

How to make Knafeh

1. Soak 500 g of nabulsi cheese in cold water for 6 to 8 hours, changing the water often, until it tastes barely salty; without that step there is no stretch and no knafeh. If you cannot find it, desalted akkawi is the only close substitute, ricotta and mozzarella do not behave the same.
2. Boil 400 g of sugar with 250 ml of water and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for 8 minutes, stir in 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water and let the syrup cool completely.
3. Rub 400 g of kataifi dough between your hands until it is fine crumbs, then work in 200 g of melted ghee and a pinch of orange food coloring.
4. Press the dough hard into a buttered round tray in a single layer no thicker than 1 cm.
5. Slice or grate the desalted cheese and spread it right to the edges over the dough.
6. Cook on the stovetop over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the tray so it colours evenly, until the underside is dark gold; an oven gives a dry crust, not the Nabulsi one.
7. Invert the tray onto a platter in one movement so the crust sits on top and the melted cheese underneath.
8. Pour the cool syrup over the hot knafeh, scatter 60 g of crushed pistachios and serve while the cheese still pulls.

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