Plăcintă

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 300 mlwarm water
• 1 tspsalt
• 3 tbspoil, plus more for stretching

Cheese filling

• 500 gdry curd cheese or brânză de vaci
• 2eggs
• 80 gsugar
• 1 tspvanilla
• 80 graisins, soaked
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Apple filling

• 800 gcooking apples, coarsely grated
• 80 gsugar
• 1 tspcinnamon
• 2 tbspsemolina or breadcrumbs

Cabbage filling

• 1small cabbage, shredded
• 2onions
• oil
• salt and plenty of black pepper
• 1 tspdill

To cook

• oil or butter, for the pan

To finish

• icing sugar, for the sweet ones

Directions

1. Mix the flour, salt, water and oil into a soft dough and knead it hard for 10 minutes. Knead it thoroughly, because it has to be stretched thin enough to read through and an under-worked dough tears immediately.
2. Divide it into six balls, coat them in oil, cover them, and rest 30 minutes. Now the fillings, and each needs the same treatment: it must not be wet. Squeeze the apples dry and add semolina to absorb what is left. Wet apple filling soaks through the pastry and it is the usual disaster.
3. Add the sugar to the apples at the last moment, because sugar draws yet more water out. For the cheese filling, use a dry pressed curd and drain it further in a cloth if it is at all wet. Cook the cabbage right down and cool it fully. Oil a large smooth work surface generously rather than flouring it.
4. Flour makes the dough grip and tear; oil lets it slide out thin. Flatten a ball and push it outward with oiled palms until it is a huge, almost transparent sheet. Work from the centre outward and let the weight of the dough help.
5. Fold the sheet over the filling: bring in the sides, then the top and bottom, making a flat square parcel of several layers. A plăcintă should come apart in thin sheets rather than being a single crust.
6. Press the parcel gently flat with your palm. Heat a heavy pan with a little oil over a medium heat. Cook the parcels 4 to 5 minutes a side until deep golden and crisp with dark blistered patches. High heat browns the outside before the filling is hot and the inner layers are still raw dough.
7. Press them down with a spatula as they cook and turn them several times. They can also be baked at 200°C for 25 minutes, brushed with oil, which is the Romanian oven version. Drain briefly and dust the sweet ones with icing sugar. Serve warm, cut into squares, and eat them with the hands.

Technique

• It is sold from bakeries and street kiosks across Romania and Moldova, wrapped in paper.
• Pumpkin, plăcintă cu dovleac, is the autumn version and is very good.
• They reheat well in a dry pan and badly in a microwave.

Substitutions

• Ricotta drained overnight in place of brânză de vaci.
• Ready-made filo pastry, layered, which is quicker and different.

Variations

• With pumpkin, in autumn.
• Poale-n brâu, the folded Moldavian shape.
• Baked rather than pan-fried.

History

Pastry filled with cheese, apple or cabbage; the name descends from the Latin placenta, a Roman flat cake.

Frequently asked questions

What is Plăcintă?

Plăcintă is a bread & pastry from Romania: filled pastry with apple, sweet cheese or pumpkin. Pastry filled with cheese, apple or cabbage; the name descends from the Latin placenta, a Roman flat cake.

How long does Plăcintă take to make?

Plăcintă takes 45 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 pastries. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Plăcintă?

Yes, within limits. Ricotta drained overnight in place of brânză de vaci. Ready-made filo pastry, layered, which is quicker and different.

What is the most important thing to get right in Plăcintă?

Divide it into six balls, coat them in oil, cover them, and rest 30 minutes. Now the fillings, and each needs the same treatment: it must not be wet. Squeeze the apples dry and add semolina to absorb what is left. Wet apple filling soaks through the pastry and it is the usual disaster.