Cheese stuffed kataifi

Many years ago I bought a book in Australia called "Moorish" by Greg & Lucy Malouf. I never cooked anything from it but always wanted to try the cheese stuffed kataifi, mainly because the buttery crispy pastry looked so delicious. It wasn't until I was in Dalston's Turkish Food Centre recently (some 8 or 10 years later) when I saw a packet of kataifi pastry that I remembered I had this recipe. So on a visit to Australia a few weekends ago, I grabbed the book and came home to make these delicious morsels. I tested them first for friends, and then made them again on Saturday night as part of our supper club menu.

These are easy to make in advance and they look really impressive, not to mention taste gorgeous!

Cheese stuffed kataifi

Stuffing

1T olive oil

2 small shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped/minced

100g grated/finely chopped halloumi

100g finely chopped mozzarella

120g chopped/crumbled fetta

100g pine nuts, fried until golden brown

30g breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1T roughly chopped coriander leaves

1T roughly chopped parsley leaves

1T roughly chopped mint leaves

zest of 1/2 lemon

3 dried figs, diced and soaked in water for 30 minutes

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180g kataifi pastry

180g unsalted butter, melted (I would err on the generous side and go for 250g)

freshly ground white pepper

1T za'atar (optional - i.e. I always forget to sprinkle this on the kataifi at the end)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the shallots and garlic until they soften. Allow to cool.

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In a bowl, mix the cheeses, pine nuts, breadcrumbs, egg and egg yolk. Add the cooled shallots mixture, all the herbs and lemon zest. Drain the liquid from the figs, add them to the cheese mixture and mix everything together (I find it best to do this with my hands, to ensure the cheese are all squelched together well).

Form the mixture into balls - you can make largish golf ball sized balls (you'll get about 10 of these), but I prefer to make about 20 smaller balls. Put these on a plate in the fridge for about 30minutes.

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Unfold the kataifi pastry and cut it into lengths of about 25cm. Divide the pastry into small bunches (hopefully the photos assist with working out how much). Keep the pastry covered with a wet tea towel to prevent it drying out. Brush the pastry with melted butter (be generous!) and sprinkle the pastry with white pepper.

Place one cheese ball at the end of the pastry and roll it half way along the pastry, then turn the ball 90 degrees and continue rolling - you should end up with a fat criss-crossed pastry ball.

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Once you've done all the balls, place them on a plate and cover with a wet tea towel. You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of hours, but at least 30 minutes.

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When you're ready to serve up the balls, place them on a baking try, (I like to brush some more melted butter over them), and cook at 180 degrees C for about 10-15 minutes, until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain on a kitchen paper and serve immediately (sprinkly with za'atar, if you remember).

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Enjoy!