At least two vivid reminders were left in Bessarabia of the former Roman Empire glory: the Troyanov Val defensive structure and the universal weapon of local housewives in the struggle for men’s hearts – placinta. Anyone who once tasted hot crispy placinta cannot forget its taste. Especially the one that is just hot from the pan, with the oil bubbles still dancing on it, while the hostess, with a skillful movement of her hand, cuts placinta into four parts. The most suitable drink for such a placinta is a glass of cool red wine from the cellar. The first thing that any invited or uninvited guest will be offered in the Bessarabian house. But this is another story…
- Prep time: 40 minutes
- Cook time: 40 minutes
- Serves: 8
- Difficulty: medium
- Course: appetizer
- Cookware: rolling pin, frying pan
- Cuisine: Odessa
Ingredients
- 1 kg filo pastry
- 500 g curd cottage cheese
- 4 yolks
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 1 large bunch of dill
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt
- oil to roll out the dough, plus extra for frying
Cooking method
Step 1
For the filling. Finely chop the dill. Strain the cottage cheese through a sieve into a bowl. Add the yolks, sour cream, black pepper, and salt to the bowl with cottage cheese. Stir well and add dill. Mix and set aside.
Step 2
Divide the dough into 8 parts. Roll each part into a ball and wrap in cling film or cover with a towel so that the dough does not dry out. Lightly oil the working surface. Roll out the dough ball in a square about 2 mm thick and 25-30 cm diameter. Place the filling in the middle and flat it with a spatula. Connect the opposite corners of the dough with each other in the centre of the filling, forming an envelope. Gently stretch each of the delighted corners to the side so that the dough does not break, and again connect to each other in the centre. Repeat for each piece of dough.
Step 3
Heat the frying pan on medium heat and pour oil into frying pan so that the level is at least 1 cm. Fry the placintas on medium heat without the lid for about 5 minutes on each side until golden. Serve hot.
My tips and tricks:
Placintas are best eaten hot, immediately from the pan and cut into four parts. There are a lot of fillings for placintas: pumpkin, coarse grated and fried in butter with sugar; mashed potatoes with black pepper; raw potatoes, cut into small cubes, with onions, salt, and pepper; fresh or pickled stewed cabbage with onions; boiled egg with green onions; feta cheese with a mix of different herbs; diced apple with sugar; cherry with rose jam; strawberries, lightly sprinkled with mint leaves. Cold placintas are not as tasty as hot ones. Therefore, if they have cooled, it is better to heat them in the oven or in a frying pan over low heat. In this case, you no longer have to add oil to the pan: placintas have absorbed enough of it during cooking.
- 1 kg filo pastry
- 500 g curd cottage cheese
- 4 yolks
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 1 large bunch of dill
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt
- oil to roll out the dough, plus extra for frying
- For the filling. Finely chop the dill. Strain the cottage cheese through a sieve into a bowl. Add the yolks, sour cream, black pepper, and salt to the bowl with cottage cheese. Stir well and add dill. Mix and set aside.
- Divide the dough into 8 parts. Roll each part into a ball and wrap in cling film or cover with a towel so that the dough does not dry out. Lightly oil the working surface. Roll out the dough ball in a square about 2 mm thick and 25-30 cm diameter. Place the filling in the middle and flat it with a spatula. Connect the opposite corners of the dough with each other in the centre of the filling, forming an envelope. Gently stretch each of the delighted corners to the side so that the dough does not break, and again connect to each other in the centre. Repeat for each piece of dough.
- Heat the frying pan on medium heat and pour oil into frying pan so that the level is at least 1 cm. Fry the placintas on medium heat without the lid for about 5 minutes on each side until golden. Serve hot.