Mutabbaq Pastry

Hani Zalatimo hand made streusel with cheese and walnuts and a sprinkling of syrup crispy and amazing

Mutabbaq – Middle Eastern Cheese Pastry

Makes one half-sheet pan, enough to serve 8 with leftovers likely

2/3 cup (10 1/2 tablespoons, or 130 grams) unsalted butter, melted
14 sheets phyllo pastry, from one packet
2 cups (500 grams) ricotta cheese
9 oz (250 grams) soft goat cheese
1/4 cup crushed unsalted pistachios, to garnish

Syrup
6 tablespoons (90 ml) water
1 1/3 cups (280 grams) sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon orange flower water, optional

Make the syrup: Heat the oven to 450°. Brush a rimmed half-sheet baking pan (13×18 in) or two 9×13 pans with melted butter. If using the half-sheet pan, the phyllo sheets should fit your pan perfectly. If you’re working with two quarter-sheet pans, you’ll want to cut the phyllo down the middle.

Layer a sheet of phyllo into your pan, brush all over with melted butter, and top with another sheet. Continue layering sheets and butter until you have 7 sheets in the pan (or 7 sheets in each pan).

Put the ricotta and goat cheese in a bowl and mash together with a fork until the mixture is uniform. Spread over the top phyllo sheet, leaving 3/4 inch / 2 cm clear around the edge. Brush the surface of the cheese with butter and top with the remaining 7 sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter before layering the next sheet.

If you can, fold the edges of phyllo under the pastry to make a clean edge. (If not, don’t worry about it.) Brush the top with more butter, and use a sharp long knife to cut the pastry into 3-inch squares, sending the knife almost to the bottom of the pan but not quite.

Bake for 25 minutes, until pastry is crisp and golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the syrup: Put the water and sugar in a small saucepan and mix well. Place over medium heat, bring to a boil, add the lemon juice and orange flower water if using, and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

The minute you take the pastry out of the oven, pour the syrup over the hot pastry, making sure it soaks in evenly. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the crushed pistachios, and finish cutting into portions. Serve warm.