Traditional Greek kataifi

Kataifi Source: Flickr/Alpha CC BY-SA 2.0

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This is a simple and delicious dessert, a stable in Greek menus. The kataifi (or kataif) pastry can be found in Greek and Middle Eastern shops and also supermarkets. Do not be intimidated by its hair-like texture. It's easy to work with and very forgiving, we swear! Angela Nicolettou has the recipe.

Kataifi

Ingredients

1 packet kataifi pastry

2 cups finely chopped walnuts

1 cup finely chopped almonds

1 egg white

2 tsp cinnamon

200g melted unsalted butter

Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

½ cup honey

1 strip of lemon rind

1 cinnamon quill

3 cloves

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tbs rose water (optional)

Kataifi cups with labneh and sour cherries

Method

Set oven to 190C. Butter baking tray and set aside.

Chop the nuts using a food processor or mortar and pestle. Mix the walnuts, almonds, cinnamon and egg white.

Open the pastry packet and pull apart shreds of pastry about 20 cm by 8cm (a very rough estimate - this pastry is easy to work with so don’t worry too much). Just be sure not have it too thick, so it doesn’t become too large when you roll it up. Place 2 spoonfuls of the filling along the bottom of the pastry and roll into a tube making sure it is firm, but not too tight. Place on the baking tray, seam side down, and repeat with remaining pastry and filling. When placing pastries on the tray, make sure the rolls are not placed too firmly against each other but are just touching. Spoon melted butter over the pastries. Bake for 30 minutes.

To make syrup, add all ingredients except the honey to a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Add the honey and stir for a few more minutes. Remove from stove and stir through rose water (if using).

When the kataifi has cooked, pour the hot syrup on top. Leave in the syrup for a few hours before removing and serving. The kataifi will keep stored in a cool place for a few days.