🧀 Knafeh

Name: Knafeh
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Levant · Middle East
Ingredients: 400 g kataifi (shredded pastry), loosened; 4 tbsp neutral oil; 400 g akkawi cheese, soaked to remove salt and grated; 200 g sugar and 150 ml water for syrup; 1 tsp lemon juice; 1 tsp orange blossom water; 30 g pistachios, chopped

Origin: Levant · Middle East

570kcal

per serving · 150 g

380kcal

per 100 g

14 gProtein9 g / 100 g

27 gFat18 g / 100 g

68 gCarbs45 g / 100 g

Knafeh is a Levantine dessert of shredded kataifi pastry baked around a layer of soft, stretchy white cheese such as akkawi until the top is crisp and golden. Hot from the oven it is soaked with sugar syrup and scattered with chopped pistachios. The contrast of crunchy strands, melted salty cheese and sweet syrup is the point; it is served warm, cut into squares.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: akkawi cheese

Contains glutenbecause of: kadayif pastry

Contains dairybecause of: akkawi cheese

Not keto45 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk ⚠ Tree nuts

What it is made of

kadayif pastryakkawi cheesesyruppistachio

Recipe

8 servings60 min

Ingredients

400 g kataifi (shredded pastry), loosened
4 tbsp neutral oil
400 g akkawi cheese, soaked to remove salt and grated
200 g sugar and 150 ml water for syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp orange blossom water
30 g pistachios, chopped

Method

Boil the sugar and water 8 minutes, add lemon juice and orange blossom water, and cool.
Rub the kataifi with the oil and press half into a round tin.
Spread the cheese evenly, cover with the remaining pastry and press down.
Bake at 190 °C for 30–35 minutes until golden, pour over the cooled syrup and top with pistachios.

How to make it lighter

Use half the syrup and serve the rest on the side.
Cut small squares of about 100 g instead of large wedges.
Share a piece: knafeh is dense, and a small portion with unsweetened tea satisfies.

History

Knafeh is made across the Levant, Egypt and Turkey, and sweets called kunafa are already mentioned in medieval Arabic cookbooks, though they were not necessarily the cheese-filled dessert known today. It is now sold by sweet shops throughout the Arab world, often fresh from huge round trays.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →