Kunafa Nabulsieh

About This Recipe

Kunafa Nabulsieh originates in the Palestinian city of Nablus and is fiercely beloved across Jordan, where it is eaten for breakfast, as a snack, or as a celebratory sweet. A thick slab of fine shredded pastry (kataifi or knafeh dough) is baked over a layer of fresh white Nabulsi cheese until the crust turns deep orange, then immediately drenched in rose water-scented sugar syrup. The magic is in the contrast: a crisp, slightly sweet crust that shatters to reveal a blanket of hot, stretchy, lightly salty cheese underneath, the whole thing perfumed with orange blossom and rose. It is always cut into squares and served piping hot.

Ingredients

Serves 10

• 500 gkataifi (shredded filo) pastry, thawed
• 150 gunsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsporange food colouring (optional, traditional)
• 500 gNabulsi or fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
• 200 gricotta or akkawi cheese, drained
• 2 cupssugar
• 1 cupwater
• 1 tsprose water
• 1 tsporange blossom water
• 1 tsplemon juice
• ¼ cuppistachios, finely ground

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the syrup

   Combine sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, add lemon juice, and simmer 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in rose water and orange blossom water. Cool to room temperature.

2. 2

   Prepare the pastry

   Roughly chop kataifi into 2-cm pieces. Toss with melted butter and orange colouring (if using) until every strand is coated.

3. 3

   Prepare the cheese layer

   Soak Nabulsi cheese in cold water for 30 minutes to reduce saltiness, then pat dry. Mix with ricotta until combined.

4. 4

   Assemble

   Press two-thirds of the buttered kataifi firmly and evenly into a greased 30 cm round or rectangular baking pan. Spread the cheese mixture over the pastry in an even layer. Top with the remaining kataifi, pressing gently.

5. 5

   Bake and syrup

   Bake at 200 °C for 30–35 minutes until the top is deep orange-gold. Remove from oven and immediately pour half the syrup over the surface. Wait 2 minutes, then invert onto a serving tray. Drizzle more syrup, garnish with ground pistachio, and serve hot.

Variations

• •

  Kunafa with clotted cream (qishta): replace cheese with thick clotted cream for a milder, richer filling.

• •

  Kunafa fingers: roll individual portions into cigar shapes.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

• •

  Spicier: add a finely chopped fresh chile or a teaspoon of crushed Aleppo/Urfa pepper to the aromatics for warm, layered heat instead of a single sharp hit.

Storage

Best eaten immediately. Leftovers keep 1 day covered at room temperature; reheat in a 180 °C oven for 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions