Künefe probably comes from the Ottoman Empire. It is known and loved in the Arab world under the name Kunafa. The main ingredient, kadayif, often translated as angel hair noodles, has to be bought in Turkish or Arab grocery stores - the German vermicelli is not a substitute. You can find the fresh kadayif noodles in the refrigerated shelf. They are also pre-baked and dried, but I would advise against that at Künefe.
The Dil Peyniri, a white, unsalted cheese, which is also required, can hardly be found here in Germany, but can easily be replaced with cow`s milk mozzarella. When watered, it comes very close to the original and even adds an extremely delicious light saltyness that stands up to the sugar syrup. Now please don`t be overambitious and use buffalo mozzarella, it`s usually way too moist!
Künefe should be eaten fresh out of the oven, once the sugar syrup is on it cannot be reheated without turning to slush. The syrup should no longer be hot when poured over it, otherwise the fine, crispy structure of the pasta will also turn into bland, uninteresting dough.
First I put the mozzarella balls in cold water for about 30 minutes to reduce their salt content. I put the pistachios in a mortar and grind them finely until they are bright green.
I take the kadayif noodles out of the package, open them a little so that a flat layer is created and place them in a damp kitchen towel for about 15 minutes so that they become soft and flexible. I preheat the oven to 200 ° C top and bottom heat.
Then I put the sugar, the water and the lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring everything to a boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Then I take the pot off the stove and let the syrup cool down, room temperature is enough. I take the mozzarella out of the water bath and cut it into 2 - 3 mm wide slices.
I spread the pizza tray, approx. Ø 26 cm, generously with butter. You can`t save here!
If the kadayif is soft, I carefully pluck it apart and cut it into pieces approx. 2 - 3 cm long. Professional Künefe bakers cut the pasta even shorter because the result looks neater. But I think that`s a shame because the structure of the fine noodles is lost in the process and they are the thrill with this dessert. The cut pasta is kneaded with approx. 100 g soft butter.
Now I put half of the pasta in the pizza tray and press it firmly. Put the mozzarella slices on top until the noodles are covered. Then the rest of the kadayif noodles are evenly placed on top and are also pressed flat. Finally, I spread a few more flakes of butter on the pasta cake and place the tray on the bottom of the oven for about 20 minutes so that the pasta roasted golden brown at the bottom.
When the time is up, I take the tray out of the oven and carefully remove the cake from the pizza tray with a pallet. If the base is golden brown, I turn the Künefe with the help of a large plate or another pizza tray and bake it for another 15 minutes. In the end, the Künefe should be golden brown and slowly turn dark around the edges.
Then I get the hot künefe out of the oven and spread the sugar syrup over it in a thin stream. Then everything should rest for about 2 minutes and pull through. Now I cut small squares or punch round pieces out of the künefe with a cookie cutter, spread the ground pistachios on the pieces and serve everything while the cheese is still hot and melted.
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