I’m back y’all! The past couple of weeks have been spent in a frantic wedding prep haze, equally filled with joy, bickering, tension and excitement. We’re tying the knot in a couple of days and since I’ve now crossed off most of what needs to be done of dozens of lists, I’m finally ready to come back to my favourite place, with one of my favourite recipes: kunefe!
I’ve I’ve been meaning to make kunefe for quite some time now. I love all desserts made with pastry of some sort, but I reserve a particularly sweet spot for those drenched in sugar as well. Knowing that kunefe has all of the above, plus a cheese filling makes me giddy just thinking about it!
Things are pretty easy, pretty simple and pretty damn delicious here guys: shredded phyllo dough (I love working with this!), feta cheese to balance out the sweetness of the syrup, toasted pistachios and bam! We’ve got a dessert! Isn’t that something? Isn’t that all we need to get back to some goddamn normalcy and prepare for fall?
Kunefe
INGREDIENTS
500gr shredded phyllo dough
250 gr unsalted butter, melted
300 gr feta cheese
150 gr ricotta cheese
1/2 cups pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
syrup:
300 ml water
450 gr sugar
juice from one medium lemon
METHOD
Start by making the syrup: combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 5′, allowing the sugar to dissolve, turn off the heat, remove from the stove and let it cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 180 C (160C for air) and brush a large baking pan with butter.
Take the pastry off the package and work it with your fingers to make it fluffy. Pour the melted butter all over and work on it again to make it all wet.
Divide into two and line the baking pan with half of it, evening it out with your hands. Top with the cheese, leaving a small margin all around. Sprinkle with half the pistachios and top with the remaining buttered dough.
Bake for about 40′, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and pour the cold syrup over it.
Once the syrup has been absorbed, top with the remaining pistachios and let it sit for about 10′ and serve.