Nistniki with cottage cheese: recipe

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In this article we will tell you how to cook cottage cheese pancakes. This dish of Ukrainian cuisine is a matter of national pride, along with borscht, dumplings, greek, howls… But stop! Let's get back to the sheeters. They come with a variety of fillings. At weddings, they are served with chopped chicken or minced meat. At christening - sweet, with raisins, apples, or cherries with sour cream and honey sauce. On weekdays - with cabbage, mushrooms, liver, cheese. In general, the filling for this dish can be the same products as for dumplings. But the classics of the genre were and remain pancakes with cottage cheese. And preparing the dough for them is a bit like the process of kneading the base for Russian pancakes. But it also has its own specificity. Let's figure it out.

Ingredients for dough

Russian pancakes, French crepes, Mexican tortillas, English pancakes - there's a lot in betweengeneral. A little away from these, of course, delicious national dishes are Ukrainian nalistniki: with cottage cheese, meat, any other filling. They are not just fried in a pan, but then baked in the oven with sauce or sour cream. Therefore, the dough for flour envelopes should be special. Each region of Ukraine has its own nuances. In Galicia, nalistniki are cooked with sour milk or whey. In Central Ukraine - on a fresh product. Somewhere add soda, and somewhere - starch. But eggs are an obligatory ingredient, and not just any, but homemade. The brighter the yolks, the more elastic the dough for the pastry will turn out. There is another difference between this dish and Russian pancakes. You can add a little vegetable oil to the base.

Dough

It is with its kneading that we begin to prepare Ukrainian pancakes with cottage cheese (photo). The recipe will help us understand this whole process, which is already quite simple. The dough is kneaded in two stages. First, it is made very thick (like pancakes), and then, after half an hour, it is diluted with plenty of milk. But we start by rubbing four eggs with a third glass of sugar. Add a pinch of s alt and about six tablespoons of wheat flour. We dilute with a small amount of milk - pour about a quarter or half a glass from a liter. Leave the thick dough at room temperature for thirty minutes. After that, add the rest of the milk, mix thoroughly. The dough should be very liquid, but don't let that scare you. Some housewives add a couple to itspoons of sunflower oil. Others do not do this, but fry the pancakes, after running a piece of lard on the bottom of the pan, planted on a fork.

Baking

To get delicious - and, most importantly, whole - pancakes, we need to have a good cast-iron pan with a thick bottom. Each Ukrainian gentlewoman has a special “patel for pancakes” on the farm - a small diameter, so that it is more convenient to turn the pancake. We heat the pan well, but do not heat it up. Let's pour some dough. Swirl the pan around so it spreads evenly. If vegetable oil was added to the dough, it should not be poured separately into the pan. It must be remembered that after frying, the cottage cheese pancakes will “reach” in the oven, so it is important not to overdry them. It will even be better if the pancakes come out a little damp. You can turn them over when the edges are slightly dry and lifted. If the dough is kneaded correctly, the pancakes will turn out to be very thin, translucent, but at the same time strong and elastic. Put them in a pile in a plate and immediately cover so that the steam softens the dough.

Filling

If you want to cook real Ukrainian fritters with cottage cheese, don't be stingy with a good farmer's cheese. A fat-free product does not behave well in the oven and can ruin the entire dish. The classic of the genre suggests two options for cheesecakes: dessert and savory. Let's start with the first one. We knead a kilogram of fresh fatty cottage cheese with a fork and knead with two eggs and two-thirds of a glassgranulated sugar. You can add another sachet of vanilla for taste. For the savory version, just limit the amount of sugar and add a few pinches of s alt. In no case should the mass turn out to be liquid. If this happens, squeeze the filling in gauze. Forming the pancakes is simple: put a spoonful of filling on the pancake, wrap it in an envelope or tube. This dish is prepared in a similar way with any other minced meat.

Nistniki with cottage cheese in the oven

Grease a deep refractory ceramic dish with butter. We put ready-made tubes or envelopes into it in rows. We shift them with pieces of butter. We heat the oven slightly. We cover the dishes and put on a minimum fire for an hour. Attention: you don’t need to feel sorry for butter, otherwise the sheets will dry out and not steam out. If you want to make the dish more economical, bring the pancakes to readiness in a skillet. But be sure to fry the pancakes in butter. Or pour pancakes in the oven with sour cream sauce. It is customary to serve nalistniki in painted clay bowls. Separately put on the table sour cream, honey and jam (for a dessert option) or chopped green onions and dill for savory pancakes.

Variants of cottage cheese pancakes

These Ukrainian pancakes can have a myriad of toppings. But if you decide to make them with cottage cheese, then here your imagination will not be limited to certain canons. You can cook them with cherries or vanilla, dried apricots orpoppy. Especially tasty are nalistniki with cottage cheese and raisins. The process of preparing the filling is extremely simple. Soak the washed raisins (100 g per kilogram of cottage cheese will be required) in boiling water. When it swells, stir in fatty cottage cheese with yolks, sugar, vanilla. At the end, add strained raisins. Spread the filling on the pancake, roll up. Lay the pancakes in a mold, not only adding pieces of butter, but also sprinkling caramelized sugar on top. The Poltava version of this dish also involves smearing each pancake with sour cream. Bake at 160°C for about an hour. Serve with sour cream mixed with condensed milk.