Knafeh (Kunafa)

Name: Knafeh (Kunafa)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Lebanese Coastal & Mountain
Ingredients: 400 g kataifi (shredded dough) or fine semolina dough; 150 g ghee; 500 g unsalted white cheese (akkawi/nabulsi) or qishta (cream); sugar syrup with rose/orange-blossom water; crushed pistachios

Molten white cheese under a crisp, syrup-soaked crust of fine dough or shredded kataifi, gilded with pistachio — the Levant's most theatrical sweet.

55 min · Serves 8 · Takes some skill

Recipe by Halal Gourmet Editorial Team

Ingredients

Crust

400 gkataifi (shredded dough) or fine semolina dough
150 gghee

Filling

500 gunsalted white cheese (akkawi/nabulsi) or qishta (cream), soak akkawi to desalt

Finish

sugar syrup with rose/orange-blossom water
crushed pistachios

Method

Start cooking mode

Time: Prep 30 min · Cook 25 min · 55 min total
Difficulty: hard

1
Soak akkawi to remove salt. Toss crust dough in melted ghee; press half into a pan.
15 min
2
Layer cheese/cream; top with remaining dough; press.
10 min
3
Bake until deep golden and crisp; flip out; douse with cool blossom syrup while hot; top with pistachios. Serve immediately, molten.
25 min

Notes and swaps

Allergens: Not assessed yet. Check each ingredient if you have an allergy.
Swaps: Specify microbial/vegetable-rennet or halal-certified cheese — culturally faithful (the cheese style is unchanged, only the coagulant).: Traditional akkawi/nabulsi may use animal rennet of unverified source.