Cheese Paklava

Posted by Debbie Kwiatoski Oct 9, 2007

Paklava is traditionally made with a chopped nut filling of walnuts or pistachios, sweetened with sugar and flavored with cinnamon and allspice - two of the key sweet spices in Middle Eastern cuisine. But not being a huge fan of the traditional cloyingly sweet sweets of the traditional Middle Eastern table, I actually prefer a slightly less rich version that was popular in our family.

Instead of nuts, an alternative to the filling is to use a sweetened ricotta cheese. The filling is quite simple to make: Take one quart of ricotta cheese and mix it very well with three eggs and about a cup of sugar (or even less, this is very much a matter of taste). To this mixture, you can also add a bit of rose water (food quality - purchased usually at a Middle Eastern specialty food shop) or some cinnamon and allspice. None are necessary - but each does add its own layer of subtle flavor.

Layer and butter the sheet dough as described in my recipe for paklava. But where you would put the nuts, spread the cheese mixture instead. Then, continue on with the recipe as before.

When baked, the sweetened cheese just seems to give the dessert a totally different, and I think, more "easy-going" taste that is not really as rich as the nut version. This version really should be served warm for the best effect, however.

This same ricotta filling can be used in yet another variation of paklava - Kadayif. Kadayif is similar to paklava, except that it uses a bed of shredded wheat (or actual kadayif dough, if you have access to a good Middle Eastern Specialty shop) instead of the Phyllo dough.