Australian Home Beautiful – August 2019

ENTERTAIN

BAKED KNAFEH

Serves 8-10

1. Place ricotta in a sieve resting over a bowl. Allow to stand for
   1 hour to drain any liquid.


2. Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut pastry into large pieces. In two batches,
   pull pastry apart and place in the bowl of a food processor. Process
   until finely chopped. Place in a large bowl. Add melted butter.
   Use your hand to mix until butter is evenly combined.


3. Press half the pastry mixture into the base of a 24cm round metal,
   straight sided, cake/sponge sandwich tin.


4. Tear ricotta into a bowl, add mozzarella and sugar and stir until
   combined. Spread over pastry, leaving a 1cm border. Sprinkle with
   remaining pastry mixture. Press down with your hand and push
   into edges. Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until golden and crisp.


5. Meanwhile to make syrup, put water, sugar, honey, lemon juice and
   rosewater in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until
   sugar dissolves and mixture comes to the boil. Gently boil for about
   20 minutes or until thickened to a syrup. Remove from heat.


6. Stand baked knafeh for 5 minutes. Pour two-thirds of hot syrup
   over the top and edges of hot knafeh. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.
   Loosen edge with a palette knife. Place a plate, with a lip, on top and
   invert. Place another plate on base and invert back to the top.
   Sprinkle pistachios around the edge and drizzle with remaining
   syrup. Scatter figs around the outside of the plate to serve.

TIP: Kataifi is chilled string pastry. Find it in gourmet grocery

stores or wherever Middle Eastern products are sold.

MAHALABIA (FRAGRANT MILK PUDDINGS)

Makes 6

1. Place 2 cups of milk in a large saucepan. Add cream, rosewater,
   cinnamon sticks and cardamom and stir to combine. Bring to a
   simmer over medium heat. Simmer gently to infuse for 5 minutes.


2. Combine cornflour and remaining milk in a jug until smooth.


3. Stir sugar into hot milk mixture until dissolved. Scoop out
   cinnamon and cardamom pods and discard. Stir in cornflour slurry.
   Bring to a simmer and whisk for 6-8 minutes or until thickened.


4. Pour into six 160ml- to 180ml-capacity heatproof glasses or serving
   dishes. Allow to cool for 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and
   refrigerate for about 3 hours or overnight until set.


5. Sprinkle with pistachios, nutmeg and cinnamon sugar.
   Decorate with rose petals to serve.

MA’AMOUL (DATE FILLED SHORTBREADS)

Makes 22

1. Sift semolina, flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in
   sugar. Add butter and milk and stir until combined to a crumbly,
   paste-like dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and rest for 1 hour.


2. Meanwhile, to make date paste, place dates, chocolate, walnuts
   and zest in a bowl and stir to combine into a paste. Roll teaspoons
   of paste into 22 balls and place in a container. Seal until ready
   to use. Date paste balls can be made the day before.


3. Preheat oven to 180°C. Squeeze dough in your hand to bring
   together. Roll level tablespoons of dough into 22 balls. Flatten dough
   balls in the palm of your hand to 4cm rounds. Use your thumb to
   create an indent in the middle. Place a ball of date paste in the centre.


4. Make two shapes by shaping dough around date ball then shaping
   into biscuit or, secondly, bring dough up around date ball until
   covered. Roll into a ball. Place balls in a floured ma’amoul mould (see
   tip) or inside a flipped citrus juicer top. Gently press dough into
   edges to create shape. Tap on bench to release. Place on 2 oven trays
   that have been lined with baking paper, about 3cm apart. Refrigerate
   for 30 minutes. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until lightly brown on top.
   Allow to cool completely on trays. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

TIP: Find wooden ma’amoul moulds online or try using small

brioche tins or any small decorative pastry or chocolate mould, or

simply flatten gently in your palm and mould into a dome shape.

600g ricotta cheese

375g kataifi pastry (see tip, below)

125g unsalted butter, melted

120g fresh mozzarella, drained,

coarsely grated

2 tbsp caster sugar

Peeled pistachios, to decorate

Fresh figs, quartered, to serve

Honey syrup

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

½ cup honey

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tbsp rosewater

1 cup durum wheat semolina

1 cup plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

⅔ cup caster sugar

125g unsalted butter

or ghee, melted

2 tbsp milk

Icing sugar mixture, for dusting

Date paste

130g fresh Medjool dates,

pitted, finely chopped

40g dark chocolate, very

finely chopped

35g walnuts, very

finely chopped

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

SAVOURED

THROUGHOUT

THE MIDDLE

EAST, KNAFEH IS

A TRADITIONAL

CHEESE-FILLED

PASTRY DRIZZLED

WITH A HONEY

AND ROSEWATER

SYRUP

2½ cups milk

300ml pure cream

2 tbsp rosewater

2 cinnamon sticks, broken

10 cardamom pods, bruised

⅓ cup cornflour

½ cup caster sugar

2 tbsp ground pistachios

Freshly grated nutmeg and

cinnamon sugar, to serve

Pesticide-free rose petals,

to decorate

168 HOMEBEAUTIFUL.COM.AU I AUGUST 2019