Knafeh

★★★★4.9· 765 ratings

·Serves 8

About this Dish

The greatest dessert of the Levant — shredded wheat pastry (kataifi) soaked in clarified butter, layered over a thick slab of unsalted cheese, baked until golden and drenched in rose water and orange blossom syrup. The contrast of the crispy pastry, stretchy cheese and fragrant syrup is extraordinary. Nablus (now in Palestine) is considered the home of knafeh — Jordanians dispute this vigorously.

IngredientsServes 8

🧀Akkawi or mozzarella cheese, 500g thinly sliced or shredded (unsalted, or soak salted akkawi in cold water for 2 hours, changing water every 30 minutes)

🌾Kataifi (shredded wheat pastry), 400g

🧈Clarified butter (ghee), 150g melted

🍚Fine semolina, 3 tablespoons (optional, mixed into pastry for extra crunch)

🍬White sugar, 2 cups

💧Water, 1 cup

🌸Rose water, 1 tablespoon

🌼Orange blossom water, 1 tablespoon

🍋Lemon juice, 1 teaspoon

🌿Crushed pistachios, 3 tablespoons for garnish

Method

Make the syrup first so it is ready and cool: combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves, then simmer for 8–10 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in rose water, orange blossom water and lemon juice. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Roughly chop or pull apart the kataifi pastry into shorter strands, then pour over the melted ghee and mix very thoroughly with your hands until every strand is well coated.

Press just over half of the buttered kataifi firmly and evenly into a 30cm round or rectangular baking tray, packing it tightly to form a solid base layer about 1cm thick.

Lay the drained cheese evenly over the pastry base, leaving a small border around the edges. Press the remaining kataifi on top, packing it down firmly so the cheese is fully enclosed.

Bake for 35–45 minutes until the top is deep golden and the edges are visibly crisp — do not rush this step, a good colour means a crunchy knafeh. Remove from the oven.

Immediately pour about two thirds of the cooled syrup all over the hot knafeh, letting it soak in for 2 minutes. Carefully flip the knafeh onto a large serving platter so the golden crust faces upward.

Drizzle over a little more syrup to taste, scatter generously with crushed pistachios and serve immediately while the cheese is still hot and stretchy — knafeh waits for no one.

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