Knafeh Nabulsi (Levantine Cheese Pastry)

About This Recipe

Knafeh nabulsi (also kunafa or kunafeh) is the most beloved Middle Eastern dessert — and perhaps the most theatrical. A bottom layer of fresh, stretchy Nabulsi cheese is buried under bright-orange shredded kataifi pastry (semolina-dough strands) soaked in butter or ghee, baked until the pastry is deep gold and crisp and the cheese underneath is molten. The whole thing is flipped onto a platter, drenched in rose- and orange-blossom-scented sugar syrup, and showered with crushed pistachios. The result: a contrast of crisp-soft, cheese-sweet, salty-rose-floral, that has no real equal in any other tradition. Originally from Nablus in the Palestinian West Bank (hence 'nabulsi'), it spread across the Levant and now has shops worldwide. Eaten hot from the pan — knafeh waits for no one.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 400 gkataifi (shredded phyllo) pastry, thawed if frozen
• 200 gunsalted butter or clarified butter (ghee), melted
• 500 gfresh Nabulsi cheese OR low-moisture mozzarella + Akkawi mix
• 1 tsporange food coloring (optional, for the traditional orange top)
• 400 gsugar
• 240 mlwater
• 1 tbsplemon juice
• 1 tsprose water
• 1 tsporange-blossom water
• 100 gshelled pistachios, finely chopped (garnish)

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the cheese to desalt

   Nabulsi cheese is brined; you must desalt it. Cube the cheese, soak in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water twice. If using mozzarella, no soaking needed. Drain and grate the cheese roughly.

2. 2

   Make the syrup

   Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook 10 minutes until slightly thickened (it should coat a spoon but not be molasses-thick). Off the heat, stir in rose water and orange-blossom water. Cool completely — cold syrup on hot knafeh is the trick.

3. 3

   Prep the pastry

   Pull the kataifi apart with your fingers to loosen and separate the threads — it comes packed tight. Place in a wide bowl. Pour over the melted butter (or ghee) plus optional food coloring. Toss thoroughly until every strand is glistening and slightly orange.

4. 4

   Build in a wide pan

   Press half of the buttered kataifi into the bottom of a 28 cm round (or 20 × 30 cm rectangular) baking dish, packing firmly. Make an even, flat layer.

5. 5

   Add cheese

   Spread the cheese evenly over the kataifi base in an even layer, leaving 1 cm at the edges.

6. 6

   Top with remaining pastry

   Distribute the other half of the buttered kataifi over the cheese, pressing gently to even it out.

7. 7

   Bake

   Bake at 200°C for 25-30 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and you can see (or smell) the cheese sizzling at the edges.

8. 8

   The flip (the moment of truth)

   Pull out. Rest 30 seconds. Place a wide flat plate over the pan. With confidence and oven gloves, invert the pan onto the plate. Lift away the pan. The knafeh now has its orange crisp side up.

9. 9

   Pour the cold syrup over hot knafeh

   Pour the cold syrup evenly over the hot knafeh — listen for the dramatic hiss. The pastry absorbs the syrup and crisps; the cheese stays molten.

10. 10

    Pistachio and serve immediately

    Shower with crushed pistachios. Cut into wedges or squares immediately. Eat hot — once knafeh cools, the cheese becomes a single rubber band. Heaven is the first slice.

Variations

• •

  Cream knafeh (kunafa bil ashta): replace the cheese with thickened sweetened clotted cream. Lighter, milkier.

• •

  Knafeh khishneh: with chopped pistachios layered between the pastry and cheese.

• •

  Chocolate knafeh: modern Dubai version — Nutella between the pastry layers. Sacrilege or genius depending on who you ask.

Storage

Best within 15 minutes of plating. Cold knafeh isn't really knafeh. To revive: reheat slices in a 200°C oven for 5 minutes to re-soften the cheese.

Frequently Asked Questions