Künefe (Hatay-style cheese kunafa)

Name: Künefe (Hatay-style cheese kunafa)
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 250 g kadayıf (fine kunafa vermicelli); 150 g melted butter; 250 g soft, stretchy unsalted cheese (Hatay cheese or drained fresh mozzarella, or Nabulsi cheese soaked in cold water for 3 hours to remove the salt); 3 tbsp coarsely ground pistachios; For the syrup: 1 cup (200 g) sugar, 1 cup (240 ml) water and 1 tsp lemon juice; Halal note: make sure the cheese is made with vegetarian or microbial rennet, or rennet from halal-slaughtered animals

Recipe No.: W-92

InternationalTurkish60 minServes 6

Künefe is one of the best-known sweets of the southern province of Hatay. Its name comes from the Arabic kunafa, known in the Levant and Turkey for centuries. Buttered strands of kadayıf surround soft unsalted cheese and are baked until golden, then drenched in syrup and sprinkled with pistachio. It is served very hot in a small copper dish so that the cheese stretches in strands with each bite, and often with a glass of tea.

Origin of the dish: Turkey (Hatay province, Antakya) — Famous in Hatay and eaten hot with the cheese stretching

Photo: Künefe (Turkish Sweet Cheese Pastry).jpg by Ralf Peter Reimann, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Ingredients for Künefe

250 gkadayıf (fine kunafa vermicelli)
150 gmelted butter
250 gsoft, stretchy unsalted cheese (Hatay cheese or drained fresh mozzarella, or Nabulsi cheese soaked in cold water for 3 hours to remove the salt)
3 tbspcoarsely ground pistachios
1 cup(200 g) sugar, 1 cup (240 ml) water and 1 tsp lemon juice (For the syrup)
Halal note: make sure the cheese is made with vegetarian or microbial rennet, or rennet from halal-slaughtered animals

Method

Boil the sugar and water for 10 minutes with the lemon juice and let it cool.
Snip the kadayıf with scissors or short pulses of the processor into short strands (1–2 cm) and rub it with the melted butter until every strand is coated.
Butter two small round tins (18 cm) or 6 individual moulds, spread half the kadayıf in the base and press it down firmly.
Spread the cheese about 1 cm thick without touching the edges, cover with the rest of the kadayıf and press hard.
Bake at 200°C for 20–25 minutes until golden (or cook in a pan over medium heat for 8 minutes per side).
Turn it out onto a plate if you like, pour over the cool or warm syrup, sprinkle with pistachio and serve immediately while hot.

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