Have you even been to Istanbul, if you haven’t sampled Kanafeh!
I couldn’t resist, it’s our second day here, I decided to give it a go. I’m no Kanafeh expert, so I turned to Google for answers, it’s all about the cheese it seems, I wanted to have the stringy cheese experience so I went with a combination of a few recipes.
I used 2 cups grated mozzarella to get the gooey-cheesy pic, however I suggest using 1 cup. The cheese options are endless but since it’s lockdown, I went with standard mozzarella.
Recipe adapted from Hadia’s Lebanese Cuisine & Cleobuttera
Kanafeh
500g Kataifi pastry
3/4 cup ghee
Place the pastry on a tray and loosen the strands by pulling them apart. Place in the oven for 10 min at 160 min, toss after 5min. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 10min. Place the pastry in a food processor and blitz briefly. Set aside.
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Filling
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup semolina
4 Tblsp sugar
1 1/2 Tblsp rose waterÂ
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
In medium sized saucepan or small pot, combine milk, cream, semolina and sugar. Cook stirring, once the mixture begins to simmer, time 4 min. Cook, stirring until the cream thickens. Add rose water. Set aside.
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Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup waterÂ
1 Tblsp lemon juiceÂ
1 Tblsp rose waterÂ
Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Boil for 8 min, remove from the stove and stir in the rose water. Set aside
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AssembleÂ
Mix the shredded kataifi with melted ghee.Â
Grease a 26cm round cake tin with ghee, place 2/3 or 360g approx of the kataifi in the cake tin, press down to form a neat layer.
Spread half of the cream, 370g approx over the pastry. Then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over, next spread the remaining cream over the cheese and top with the kataifi pastry, pressing down with the back of a spoon.Â
Bake for 40-45 min, in the bottom 1/3 of your oven, on 200°C or until golden brown.Â
