Knafi (Lebanese Pastry) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb phyllo dough
1/2 lb butter, melted
2 lbs ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice (fresh)
Sweet Syrup
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preparation

First, defrost the phyllo dough. Do this by shredding the phyllo in a bowl continuously till completely defrosted. While you are doing the shredding, start adding the butter(this is done so the dough does not stick together).
When this process is complete and the dough is shredded thoroughly, separate the dough into two equal portions.
In a well buttered 9x13-inch pan, spread out the dough thoroughly, but do not compress. Once the dough is spread evenly, start preparing the Ricotta cheese. Make patties, similar to hamburger patties, but with the cheese.
Lay the cheese patties onto the prepared dough in the pan.
Once the layer of Ricotta cheese is completely covering the dough, lay the second half of the dough unto the cheese so that it is evenly distributed.
Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0F Once preheated, place the pan in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes. What you need to look for, is that the dough browns.
Once this occurs, you will need a larger pan in which you will flip the Knafe so the the bottom is on top.
Then bake again till the browning occurs on the adjacent side. Once browned on both sides, the Knafe is finished.
The last step is to top the Knafe with the pine nuts and the sweet syrup and enjoy!
Sweet Syrup:
In a pot, combine 3 cups of sugar with 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix and heat over stove till boiling process. Once boiling add a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and boil for a few minutes more for thickening process. Let cool and use over Knafe once done baking.