Künefe
The hot cheese pastry of Hatay in southern Turkey — buttered shredded kadaif pastry pressed around a layer of mild melting cheese, cooked in a small pan until crisp, drenched in cold syrup and eaten at once, while the cheese still stretches.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 200 g sugar
- 150 ml water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 250 g kadaif pastry
- 100 g butter, melted
- 200 g low-moisture mozzarella, grated
- 2 tbsp pistachios, finely ground
Nutrition (estimated)
high confidenceRecipe total: 2150 kcal · P 49.4g · C 224.4g · F 115.9g
Estimated from 7 of 7 ingredients
Approximate estimate, calculated from the ingredients.
Steps
Steps
- 1Boil the sugar and water for 8 minutes, stir in the lemon juice and leave the syrup to cool to room temperature.
- 2Pull the kadaif strands apart, cut them into 1–2 cm lengths and rub them with most of the melted butter until every strand is coated.
- 3Pat the grated mozzarella dry with kitchen paper — wet cheese makes the pastry soggy.
- 4Brush a 20 cm frying pan with butter and press in half the kadaif in a firm, even layer.
- 5Spread the cheese over it, leaving a 1 cm border, cover with the rest of the kadaif and press down firmly.
- 6Cook over low to medium heat for 6–8 minutes, turning the pan now and then, until the base is deep golden.
- 7Put a plate over the pan, invert the künefe onto it and slide it back into the pan; cook the second side for 5–6 minutes, until golden and the cheese has melted.
- 8Slide it onto a plate, pour the cold syrup over at once, sprinkle with pistachios and serve immediately.
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Questions and answers
How long does Künefe take to make?
About 40 minutes: 15 min prep and 25 min cooking.
What ingredients do you need for Künefe?
7 ingredients: sugar, water, lemon juice, kadaif pastry, butter, low-moisture mozzarella, pistachios.
How many servings does this Künefe recipe make?
4 servings. The servings buttons above the ingredients rescale every amount.
How many calories are in a serving of Künefe?
About 538 kcal, with 12.4 g protein, 56.1 g carbohydrate and 29 g fat. This is an estimate from the ingredients, not a lab analysis.
Which diets does this Künefe recipe suit?
It is vegetarian.
What cuisine is Künefe?
Künefe comes from Turkish cuisine.
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