Greek kataifi rolls

Kataifi, along with Baklava is one of the most popular and delicious Greek Desserts. It is made with a special type of shredded pastry called "kataifi" or "kadaifi" and so the specific sweet got its name from it. The pastry is like angel hair pasta and when rolled up resembles shredded wheat. It is often referred to as "shredded wheat dessert". A delectable nutty centre is rolled inside crisp, thread like strands of pastry, baked, then soaked in a sweet syrup. Like many other Greek desserts a sweet syrup is poured over to keep them from drying out and well preserved. This is a recipe that is also found in Turkey in a bit of a different form and other Middle East countries. Some versions of Kataifi use only almonds, but the recipe here today has a mixture of almonds and walnuts. You could also add pistachios. As the pastry is full of strands, it doesn't matter if you cut them or pull apart a bit. Kataifi is a dessert which can be served as one of the Christmas treats in some areas of Greece 

Ingredients:
500gr. of kataifi pastry
180gr. of butter, melted

For the filling:
300gr. of walnuts and blanched almonds, roughly chopped
50gr. of sugar
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tsp of ground cinnamon

For the syrup:
300gr. of sugar
300ml of water
1 thin strip of lemon peel
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of honey

To Garnish:
50gr. of pistachios, roughly chopped (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Brush a large oven pan with a little of the melted butter.

In a large bowl put all the filling ingredients and mix well with a spoon.

Spread the kataifi pastry out on a clean surface, slightly pulling apart the threads so they are not clumped up.
Cover with a piece of baking paper and a lightly damp kitchen towel to stop it drying out whilst working with it.

Pull out a handful of pastry at a time and spread it out into a rectangular shape. Brush or drizzle with some of the melted butter. Place a tablespoon of the filling at one end of the pastry.

Tuck the sides and the ends in and then roll it up firmly, keeping any loose strands intact. Roll tightly so the filling is enclosed securely. It will look like a short thick cigar.

Place the kataifi rolls in the oven pan with the seam side down. Put them fairly close together in the pan but leaving a bit of space between them otherwise they will not crisp up properly. Repeat the same procedure using up all the remaining kataifi pastry and the filling.

When finished, brush all the pastry with the melted butter. Put in the oven and bake for 30 -40 minutes, until the pastry is lightly golden brown and cooked.

In a saucepan put all the syrup ingredients together and bring to the boil in medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar and then simmer the syrup for 10 minutes until it gets slightly thickened.

When the kataifi is baked, take out of the oven and leave it in the pan to settle and cool down.

Using a ladle pour all the syrup over the kataifi rolls and sprinkle on top with the chopped pistachios. Leave to stand, covered, for a couple of hours for the flavours to infuse and to absorb the syrup.

Keep the kataifi in a covered container at room temperature to prevent drying out.