Kunafa plate with mozzarella cheese

Equipment

Saucepan with handle.
Ceramic baking pan.
Baking sheet.
Silicone brush.

Ingredients

250 grams of kunafa dough.
200 grams of butter (melted).
¼ cup pistachios (chopped).

For filling:

1 cup of milk.
1 cup of cream.
2 teaspoons cornstarch.
1 teaspoon rose water.
½ cup cottage cheese (grated).
½ cup mozzarella cheese (grated).
2 tablespoons of sugar.

For sugar syrup

1 cup of water.
1½ cups sugar.
1 teaspoon lemon juice.
1 teaspoon rose water.

Instructions

Place the kunafeh dough in a bowl. Break it into smaller pieces with your hand.
Pour in the melted butter and mix them well with your hands.

Steps to make the kunafa filling:

Take a separate mixing bowl and add milk, cream, sugar and cornstarch. Mix them well.
Turn on the stove, take a heavy-bottomed pan, add and heat the above mixture on low heat, until it thickens. Keep stirring the mixture to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
Add rose water and mix it, turn off the flame after 2 minutes.
Add mozzarella cheese and cottage cheese to the above mixture and mix well.

Steps to make sugar syrup:

Take another saucepan, add water, sugar and boil until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Continue stirring and cooking until the mixture thickens.
Once the mixture is ready, add lemon juice to it.

Steps to bake kunafa:

Take a baking pan, make the base with half the kunaf dough mixture prepared above, press it to smooth the dough.
Pour the cheese mixture onto the formed base and spread it evenly with a spoon.
Take the remaining kunafadough mixture and form another layer above the cheese layer.
Brush the top layer with melted butter to help it set properly.
Preheat the oven, place the dish in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes or until it becomes golden and crispy on the surface.
Pour the prepared sugar syrup evenly on top of the kunafal layer as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Garnish it with pistachios before serving. Finally, cut it like a pizza or cake and the kunafa is ready to serve.

Note:

The cheese in kunafa becomes leathery once it starts to cool down again. To prevent this, the cheese needs to be mixed with something else. So you can mix in another type of soft cheese like ricotta or cottage cheese. These soft cheeses are often mixed with kunafa to prevent it from becoming rubbery.