Knafeh is a pastry made from kadaïf, cheese, butter and pistachios or walnuts, and topped with syrup.
Ingredients :
That many strands of kadaïf needed
Butter without skimping! But if you want the real Knafeh, then use thee samneh which is clarified butter, you just need to heat butter in a pan and skim off the milk solids that float to the top, leaving pure fat for your Knafeh.
The cheeses you need for the best Knafeh:
- Sweet and salty bulgaric cheese (במליחות מעודנת) (which will need to be soaked to remove its salt)
- Classic ricotta cheese (no soaking required) / or natural Napoleon. Fresh ricotta for knafeh is presented in the form of a rolled log.
- Mozzarella balls Or Goat or sheep cheese (Nabulsi or Nablus). It is a soft cheese that is firm but has the ability to melt.
Cheese preparation:
Soak the bulgarit cheese in water for about 3-4 minutes (to remove its salt), remove from the water and rinse with tap water and grate on a grater directly into the bowl.
Scrape a ball of mozzarella on top and add 3 tablespoons of ricotta / natural napoleon.
Some use 100g of gibné (see photo below):
Mix all the cheeses together and set aside.
For the syrup
A cup of sugar
A glass of water
Vanilla sugar
A tablespoon of lemon juice
You can choose other flavors such as cloves, cinnamon and lemon – they all have a water/sugar ratio of 1:4.
Cook for 15 minutes until thickened over medium heat
Preparing Knafeh:
Melt 50 grams of clarified (or not) butter and moisten the kaddaif strands that you have previously divided and cut into small pieces.
Place the butter cubes generously in the pan, as the entire dish depends on it. Arrange the strands of kadaif pastry on top in a generous layer and brush with more butter. Sprinkle with the grated cheese mixture and cover again. It's not necessary for all the kadaif strands to be completely covered in cheese, but rather for them to be evenly distributed. Then add another layer of kadaif. Make sure to bring the edges of the pastry up well to prevent it from touching the sides, giving it a nice round shape. Brush with more butter.
Fry over medium-high heat in a deep pan until the bottom is completely golden brown. Place a large plate of the appropriate diameter over the pan and flip the food over without breaking it. Return the other side to a dry pan to which a little butter has been added.
Cook on the other side and turn out onto a serving plate. Toast the shelled pistachios in a dry pan for a few minutes. Transfer the pistachios to a cutting board, let them cool for a few minutes, and then roughly chop them. Sprinkle with the lightly toasted pistachios and generously drizzle with the cold syrup. .
Iranian pistachios are considered the best in the world, but the second best are said to be Halabi pistachios, a variety originating from Aleppo, Syria, which was one of the world's largest nut producers before the current civil war. These pistachios are still called fistuk halabi, or Aleppo pistachios, in many Israeli markets.
A cup corresponds to 250 ml when I mention "cup" in my recipes. Here are two tables that will help you with your conversions if you don't have a cup!
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