Cheese Konafa
This is Syrian-style cheese konafa made with Akkawi cheese, konafa pastry, ghee, food-safe artificial coloring, and sugar syrup. Start by desalting the cheese in cold water and draining it thoroughly. Then prepare the tray with ghee and coloring, loosen, moisten, and press the konafa, arrange the cheese, cover it with a layer of konafa, and bake at 170°C using bottom heat only until golden. Turn it out and serve hot.
A sweet syrup-soaked pastry filled with cheese.
Like a crunchy dessert with melted cheese inside.
Konafa is usually best served warm so the cheese stays soft.
Ingredients
- 500 g Konafa pastry
- 600 g Akkawi cheese
- 250 g Ghee
- Food-safe artificial coloring
- to taste Sugar syrup
- cold water Water for the cheese
Instructions
- Prepare the sugar syrup in a pot over the heat with 2 glasses of water and 4 glasses of sugar, until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or the juice of 1/2 small lemon to the pot, then boil the syrup for 5 minutes.
- Cut the Akkawi cheese into thin slices.
- Soak the cheese in a bowl of cold water for 1 hour, changing the water 5 to 6 times, or run a thin stream of water over it while stirring if you want to speed up the process.
- Drain the cheese in a colander, placing a weight on top, until it is completely drained of water.
- Grease a mold or tray with ghee mixed with food-safe artificial coloring, until the color is pinkish rather than red.
- Rub the konafa pastry between dry hands to separate the strands, then lightly moisten it with water.
- Spread the konafa evenly in the tray and press it down well using a smaller tray and a weight. Leave it for about 3 to 4 hours, or for 2 hours with a weight if time is short.
- Spread the cheese over the konafa layer, leaving space around the edges so that the cheese does not spill out as it melts.
- Cover the cheese with a thin layer of konafa, then seal the edges with konafa.
- Bake the tray in an oven at 170°C using bottom heat only, turning or moving it as needed until it browns evenly.
- Turn the konafa out onto a second tray greased with a little ghee and without coloring, then serve.