Cheese Halawa with Daaoukiyeh Filling

Ingredients

• 750 g mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/4 cups fine semolina
• 1 small cup syrup, or 1/4 cup
• 1 small cup, or 1/4 cup, rose water mixed with orange blossom water
• syrup for stretching the halawa dough
• Filling:
• Ashta:
• 2 liters milk
• 1 very small cup lemon juice, or 1/4 cup
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 2 ready-made cans of qaymar ashta or 1 can mascarpone cheese
• Daaoukiyeh:
• 1 cup ground pistachios
• 2 tablespoons fine semolina
• 1 small spoon butter
• a pinch of rose water, or 1 teaspoon
• a pinch of orange blossom water, or 1 teaspoon
• We start by preparing the ashta. Put the milk in a pot over the heat
• Cheese halawa:

Method

1. When it is warm, add the lemon juice and yogurt and stir
2. Let it simmer for a little while over low heat until the milk separates and curds form
3. Strain the milk to collect the curds and leave them in the strainer long enough to get rid of all the water
4. Mix the curds you obtained well with the can of qaymar or mascarpone
5. Leave the ashta in the refrigerator to cool well before using
6. Put the cheese (grated or crumbled if using a large piece) in a pot over the heat
7. When half of the cheese has melted, add the fine semolina, syrup, rose water, and orange blossom water, and keep stirring until the cheese melts completely, the mixture is combined, and the dough becomes elastic
8. Roll the dough out on a surface greased with syrup until it becomes thin
9. Fill it lengthwise with the ashta and daaoukiyeh filling, then cut the dough lengthwise into strips about 5 cm wide and roll it around the filling to get a long roll
10. Cut the roll into pieces of the desired size
11. Serve the cheese halawa with daaoukiyeh filling with syrup
12. Cheese halawa with a special daaoukiyeh filling, from our friend at What Are You Cooking Today
13. Click the link to make Special Aleppo Pistachio Mafrookeh from Iman
14. Prepare the daaoukiyeh as well. Knead or mix all the daaoukiyeh ingredients and leave it in the refrigerator until needed