KUNAFA BIL-JIBN
sweet cheese pie
This rich and luxurious cheese pie is made by layering desalted cheese with qataifi (“hair” pastry), as it is known in Arabic. In some parts of the Middle East and Turkey, the pastry is left whole, whereas in Lebanon it is crumbled to resemble coarse semolina. It is one of the great Middle Eastern confections, satisfying and incredibly delicious, and it’s one of the first things I rush to eat when I go back home to Lebanon. This recipe is for the Lebanese version, but if you want to make the other version, see the Variation. Look for Akkawi cheese, a semihard white brine cheese, at Middle Eastern markets. This pie is often served with sesame galettes.
SERVES 4 TO 6
11 oz [300 g] Akkawi cheese or cow’s-milk mozzarella
9 oz [250 g] qataifi (“hair” pastry; see page 81)
7 Tbsp [100 g] unsalted butter, diced
11/2 cups [360 ml] Fragrant Sugar Syrup (page 46)
Slice the cheese about 1/2 in [12 mm] thick and soak in cold water, changing the water every 15 minutes or so, until the cheese has lost all trace of saltiness, about 2 hours. Drain.
Preheat the oven to 400°F [200°C]. Butter a 9-in [23-cm] round baking dish.
Chop the qataifi into 1/2-in [12-mm] pieces and put in a wide pan. Make a well in the middle and add the diced butter. Place the pan over low heat and rub the melting butter into the pastry with your hands until all the pastry shreds are well coated and the butter has melted completely. This will take a few minutes.
Spread the shredded pastry across the prepared dish in an even layer. Press it down with your hands.
Bake until crisp and light golden, 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the oven and spread the drained cheese slices evenly over it. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the cheese has melted completely and the pastry underneath is golden brown. Alternatively, you can cook the pie on top of the stove, which is what Lebanese bakers do. Spread the cheese slices over the pastry and place the baking dish over low heat. Cook for about 20 minutes, turning the dish regularly to make sure the bottom of the pastry browns evenly. When done, the pie should move in one block as you shake the dish from side to side.
Serve hot or warm. Drizzle a little sugar syrup all over the pastry and serve with more syrup on the side. The pie is not good cold; the cheese needs to be melting. Ideally, you should turn the pie over onto a serving dish that has been brushed with a little sugar syrup to keep the cheese from sticking. You can also cut the pie into 3-in [7.5-cm] squares and serve these upside down on a platter (also brushed with syrup) to show off the golden pastry. However, because the pastry is quite crumbly, the presentation will not be as pretty as if you turn over the whole pie.
Variation: For the whole-pastry version, don’t rub the qataifi to break it up once you have added the butter. Instead, simply toss the shreds to coat them with the butter, and then lay half the qataifi on the bottom of the dish. Spread the cheese over it and cover with the remaining qataifi; bake until golden brown. I favor the Lebanese version, but this style is a little quicker to prepare.
