Happy Ramadan!

I have been preparing a lot of recipes for this month; I promise to shower you with many ideas to make your holy month delicious.

Let’s start with a staple in every house in Ramadan; Katayef. Believe it or not, I don’t eat sweet katayef! For me katayef means either cheese or minced meat. No nuts, no sugar in my katayef please.

Today, I am sharing with you my favorite 3 katayef fillings. Prepare them & be ready all Ramadan with an amazing appetizer.

Ingredients:

For Roomy Cheese Katayef:

• 1/2 kg Roumy cheese grated جبنة رومى مبشورة
• 1 large green pepper finely diced
• 1 egg
• tiny pinch of black pepper
• 2 kg raw katayef

For Minced Meat Katayef:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion grated
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 500 gm minced meat لحمة مفرومة
• 1/2 tsp alspice بهارات
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses دبس الرمان
• 1/3 cup pine nuts toasted & roughly chopped صنوبر
• 1/4 cup currants very finely diced (optional) زبيب اسود
• salt & pepper
• 2 kg raw katayef

For White Cheese Katayef:

• 350 gm feta or barameely cheese
• 3 tbsp dried mint
• 1 kg raw katayef

Directions:

• Roumy Cheese Katayef: Put all the ingredients in a bowl & mix very well with your hands. Make sure the eggs are well mixed with all the cheese; all the ingredients should hold together like a dough. Stuff the katayef & freeze.
• Minced Meat Katayef: Heat a large pan on high heat until hot then add the butter & oil. Add the onion with a pinch of salt & sugar & keep stirring until the onion takes a light golden brown color. Stir in the meat & keep breaking it into pieces with a wooden spoon until it loses the pink color. Mix in the black pepper, cinnamon & alspice. Cook the meat for a couple of minutes until it’s cooked through. Turn off heat. Season the meat with salt & check if it needs more cinnamon or black pepper. Stir in the pomegranate molasses, pine nuts & currants. Let the mixture cool then stuff the katayef & freeze.
• White Cheese Katayef: In a bowl, mix the white cheese with the dried mint. Stuff the katayef & freeze.

Notes:

• Roomy Katayef: Use any roomy cheese you prefer; just make sure it’s a bit salty. Eggs don’t have any taste in this recipe; they just bind the ingredients together.
• Minced Meat Katayef: You can replace the pine nuts with any nuts you prefer. If using the currants, make sure they are very finely chopped so that they don’t add a lot of sweetness to the katayef.
• If you want to watch a video of the recipe, check my instagram account.