Nabulsi Kunafa: Golden Threads, Soft Cheese and Warm Syrup

When a tray of kunafa comes out golden, the syrup rarely has to wait long. In this Nabulsi recipe, shredded pastry wraps around cheese and is served warm with pistachios or almonds. It is a celebratory Palestinian sweet best brought to the table before the last spoonful gets there first.

Ingredients

• 1 cup melted local ghee.
• 2 cups shredded kunafa pastry.
• 1 cup Nabulsi or Akkawi cheese, desalted.
• ¼ cup mozzarella, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes.
• 1 teaspoon sugar for the cheese and another teaspoon for the pastry, according to the method; the printed ingredient list mentions only one teaspoon.
• ½ teaspoon orange food coloring.
• For the syrup: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water and ½ tablespoon lemon juice.
• Pistachios or almonds, for garnish.

Method

1. Make the syrup: Put the sugar and water over the heat and stir gently. After it boils, add the lemon juice and simmer over low heat for 7 minutes. Set aside.
2. Prepare the cheese: Crumble the Nabulsi cheese by hand and place it in a strainer until the water drains away. Gently squeeze it, then add 1 teaspoon sugar. Drain the mozzarella after its 15-minute soak in cold water.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut the kunafa strands finely.
4. Rub the melted ghee into the pastry strands until they are fully coated. Add the orange food coloring and 1 teaspoon sugar, then rub well.
5. Grease a shallow baking tray with ghee. Add a layer of pastry and press it into place. Spread the cheese over it, leaving about 1 cm clear around the edges so the cheese does not burn. An optional second pastry layer may be added over the cheese.
6. Bake in a preheated oven on the second-lowest rack for 20 minutes. Check the bottom with a fork every 5 minutes until it is golden. Turn the kunafa onto another tray and return it to the oven for 5 more minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, pour over the warm syrup and garnish with pistachios or almonds.

Source note: The printed ingredient list gives 1 teaspoon of sugar, while the method calls for one teaspoon for the cheese and another for the pastry. This discrepancy is made explicit rather than silently resolved.

Recipe credit: Rula Sawalha, Truly Palestinian / فلسطين داري, p. 340.