Orange Blossom Water

Ma’akarounah Bel-Jebneh is pasta with cheese and parsley. Usually spaghetti is used for making this dish.

Let’s make Ma’akarounah Bel-Jebneh:

1, 2. Bring block of Ackawi cheese.

3,4. Slice the cheese.

5,6. Soak cheese in water for an hour, and change water frequently.

7,8. Finely chop parsley, and set aside.

9. Bring large pot of salted water to boil.

10, 11, 12,13. Add spaghetti, stir and cook until al dente, follow packet direction for cooking time.

14. Once cooked, take the pot and put under running water.

15,16. Drain the spaghetti into a colander and rinse it under running water (I want to wash off the starch).

17. Keep spaghetti in the colander and allow to drain, and set aside.

18. In a large pot, heat 1 1/4 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat, then turn off heat and allow the ghee to slightly cool, just leave it for about 5 to 7 minutes.

19. Add spaghetti to ghee.

20, 21, 22. Hold the pot and shake it several times to flip spaghetti and help coating with ghee.

23. Turn on heat, gently toss spaghetti to coat with ghee, I use my hand because using a spoon or a fork may turn spaghetti into small pieces.

24. Turn off heat, keep spaghetti in the pot, and set aside.

25, 26, 27, 28. Bring soaked cheese, drain and cut into small cubes.

29, 30, 31, 32. Add cheese cubes to spaghetti (save some of the cheese aside and don’t add them, we will use in other step).

33, 34. Add chopped parsley to spaghetti.

35, 36. Add dash of black pepper, and gently toss spaghetti with cheese and parsley until all ingredients combined.

37, 38. Put a layer of spaghetti in a baking dish.

39. Add layer of the cheese that you saved in previous steps (29, 30, 31, 32).

40. Now, add all the spaghetti.

41, 42. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, and put in a preheated oven at 300 °F (150 °C) for about 15 – 20 minutes, that will allow the dish becomes hot, if it needs more time to become hot so keep in the oven.

44. Serve spaghetti hot.

Ma’akarounah Bel-Jebneh

From: Family Recipe / Servings: 4 – 5 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

400 g Ackawi cheese 1 cup finely chopped flat parsley leaves Salted water, for cooking spaghetti 400 g dry spaghetti 1 1/4 tbsp ghee Dash of black pepper

Bring block of Ackawi cheese. Slice the cheese. Soak cheese in water for an hour, and change water frequently. Finely chop parsley, and set aside. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti, stir and cook until al dente, follow packet direction for cooking time. Once cooked, take the pot and put under running water. Drain the spaghetti into a colander and rinse it under running water (I want to wash off the starch). Keep spaghetti in the colander and allow to drain, and set aside. In a large pot, heat 1 1/4 tablespoons ghee and bring it to high heat, then turn off heat and allow the ghee to slightly cool, just leave it for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add spaghetti to ghee. Hold the pot and shake it several times to flip spaghetti and help coating with ghee. Turn on heat, gently toss spaghetti to coat with ghee, I use my hand because using a spoon or a fork may turn spaghetti into small pieces. Turn off heat, keep spaghetti in the pot, and set aside. Bring soaked cheese, drain and cut into small cubes. Add cheese cubes to spaghetti (save some of the cheese aside and don’t add them, we will use in other step). Add chopped parsley to spaghetti. Add dash of black pepper, and gently toss spaghetti with cheese and parsley until all ingredients combined. Put a layer of spaghetti in a baking dish. Add layer of the cheese that you saved in previous steps (29, 30, 31, 32). Now, add all the spaghetti. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, and put in a preheated oven at 300 °F (150 °C) for about 15 – 20 minutes, that will allow the dish becomes hot, if it needs more time to become hot so keep in the oven. Serve spaghetti hot.

Notes and Tips

Look at picture here of spaghetti I use.

Actually, I used a mixture of two kinds of cheeses. 180 g of Ackawi Cheese and 220 g Jebenh Bida Baladiyeh (Local Syrian White Cheese), but I mentioned in the ingredients 400 g Ackawi cheese because you will not find Syrian white cheese, and Ackawi cheese is a substitute for it . Read about Ackwai cheese here and here.
For Syrian cheese, I followed same steps, slice cheese and soak for one hour with changing water frequently, then drain and cut into cubes.

I soaked the cheese for one hour only because I didn’t want to wash all of the salt, and I didn’t add salt to the dish because cheese still has salty taste. But when you make the dish, taste it and season with salt if you feel it needs that.

When you put the dish in the oven, the cheese will not melt completely, it’s a step for heating the dish.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 8th, 2013 at 11:13 PM and is filed under Syrian Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.