Kunafa, a Jordanian Sweet Pastry

For the month of September the ladies at Walima Cooking Club have relished the cuisine from the beautiful Historic country of Jordan in Middle East.The dessert pick was Kunafa,the festive Arabic dessert very popular during Ramadan,made by layering Cheese in between the crispy thin Kataifi pastry dough.The flavored sugar syrup and crunchy nuts are added for perfect finish.One can also use the thin vermicelli if kataifi is hard to find.And for the cheese the authentic recipes uses Naboulsi or Akawi Cheese ,which can be substituted by ricotta and fresh mozzarella together.

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Recipe adapted from Diana's Desserts.Also watch the video at Summer's blog.

Ingredients
*1 (1 pound) package Kataifi (can be found in most middle eastern, Arab or Greek grocery stores )
1/2 cup Pure Ghee,melted

For Sugar Syrup
1 cup brown or white sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoon lemon juice,freshly squeezed
1 teaspoon Orange blossom water or rose water
Pinch of Saffron

For Garnish
1/4 cup blanched whole almonds,sliced
1/2 cup golden raisins or chopped dried dates
1/2 cup roasted cashews or walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoon pure ghee

For Cheese Filling
2 cups low fat Ricotta
1 cup fresh mozzarella,shredded

*One can also used very thin roasted vermicelli(available in most Asian stores).Roast in ghee,cover and cook in very little water just until soft but not mushy.

Method
Prepare the sugar syrup
In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, add water, sugar ,saffron and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Let simmer to a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat, let cool and add rosewater or orange blossom water.

Prepare Cheese filling
In a blender or food processor blend together ricotta and mozzarella.keep aside

Bake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Butter a 12-inch round or 8x8 inch square pan.
In a large bowl gently loosen kataifi or roasted cooked vermicelli. Mix very well with pure ghee. Cover with half of the kataifi or vermicelli in the baking dish. Press down lightly.Spread the cheese mixture evenly.cover with remaining kataifi or vermicelli mixture.Bake until lightly golden, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Soak in Syrup and Garnish
lightly roast all the dried fruits and nut in pure ghee,separately.keep aside

When baked immediately pour cold sugar syrup evenly over the hot kunafa. Let cool completely to room temperature.loosen the edges,invert onto the serving plate.
Sprinkle the garnish all over.Let cool.Slice in squares and serve.

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The scrumptious Arab pastry made perfect dessert for Eid.I'd love share this with Rosa's Pastries for peace and Sanghi's Fall In Love:Ghee