Baked or fried kunafa

Ingredients

• 500 g kunafa pastry
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup / 150 g melted ghee
• 2 tbsp ghee for greasing the trays
• 800 g cheese
• 500 g ashta
• 3 cups / 300 g sugar for the syrup
• 2 cups / 400 ml water
• 1 lemon slice
• 2 drops orange blossom water
• 1 parchment paper
• a pinch pistachios

Instructions

1. Spread the kunafa pastry with your hands on the work surface or in a suitable bowl, and sprinkle it lightly with water to moisten it, as it will not work well if it remains dry.
2. Break the kunafa pastry into small pieces with your hands or a knife, then set it aside and do not let it dry out during preparation.
3. Place the sugar in a suitable bowl, then stir it until it browns and gives the kunafa pastry color.
4. Add the melted ghee to the bowl of sugar, then mix it with the sugar until well distributed.
5. Grease the trays or pan with the ghee reserved for greasing.
6. Distribute the kunafa pastry in the trays or pan in an even layer, then press it down by hand until it is about 1 cm thick.
7. Add the shredded or drained cheese over the layer of kunafa pastry in the trays or pan, then distribute it around the edges and in the center.
8. Add the ashta over the cheese in the trays or pan if you want the mixed filling.
9. For the oven version, place a second layer of kunafa pastry over the filling to make two layers.
10. For the oven version, place a sheet of parchment paper between the layers if you want to separate them while shaping.
11. Brush the top with ghee in the trays or pan until it browns well.
12. Bake the kunafa in the oven at 140 degrees, with heat from above and below, until the cheese melts and the kunafa browns.
13. Cook the kunafa in the pan over low heat, below medium, moving the pan until the cheese melts and the surface takes on color.
14. Cover the pan with a suitable lid after the kunafa has browned slightly, then leave it until the cheese melts further inside.
15. Prepare the syrup in a pot over the heat using the sugar, water, lemon slice, and 2 drops of orange blossom water, then keep it warm.
16. Pour the warm syrup over the hot kunafa after removing it from the oven or pan.
17. Garnish the kunafa with a pinch of pistachios before serving.