Knafeh Na’meh: the sweet cheese pastry recipe from Middle East

If you’ve ever visited the Middle East, chances are you had the opportunity to eat Knafeh, a popular sweet cheese pastry. Each Middle Eastern region will have their own variation of this ooey, gooey, sweet cheese dessert. The Knafeh Na’meh, which is a syrup-spaked cheese pastry, comes from Nablus, in Palestine. The Knafeh Na’ameh is the smooth variation (it actually means that!), while the Knafeh Khishneh has a crunchy texture and is known as the rough knafeh. While you might find this dessert in specialist supermarkets, homemade just tastes better.

What Is The Best Cheese For Knafeh Na'meh

Traditionally Knafeh Na’meh is made with Arabic cheeses like Akkawi, Nabulsia, Shelel, or Maidoula. Most of these cheeses have the same elasticity you’d find in mozzarella, but with a different flavor.

For this recipe, we used ricotta, but you can use a mixture of mozzarella and mascarpone. Then you have the stretchiness of the mozzarella with the sweetness of mascarpone.

Recipe Tips for Knafeh Na'meh 

– To make the syrup more flavorful, you can add orange zest or one tablespoon orange blossom water. It’s important to add the syrup while the knafeh is still warm, so that it soaks in properly.

– Once you mixed the shredded phyllo dough with the butter, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. But the finished dessert won’t freeze as well.

– Knafeh Na’meh is best served warm and fresh out of the oven. Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days. To serve, simply warm it up for 10 – 20 seconds in the microwave before serving. You can also return it to a skillet with a butter of butter.

– For extra color, you can add a few drops of red food coloring to the simple syrup.

Instructions

Roughly chop the pistachios on a wooden board.

Prepare the syrup: in a small pot, add the water, rose water, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil.

Gently stir over medium heat until all the sugar has dissolved.

Place the shredded phyllo dough in a large bowl and add melted butter.

Use your hands to toss the butter through the phyllo dough, making sure it’s evenly coated.

Add half of the phyllo dough mixture to a skillet and spread it out to cover the bottom surface of the pan.

Add the ricotta cheese and smooth the mixture with a rubber spatula.

Add the remaining half of the shredded phyllo dough. Fry for about 5 minutes more.

Cover with a plate and quickly flip the skillet to remove the Knafeh.

Add a teaspoon of butter to the empty skillet. Return the Knafeh to the skillet.

Turn the heat off and add the syrup.

Decorate with chopped roasted pistachios.