Placinta

Rachel Hester

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Ingredients

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup luke warm water I use the water I boiled the potatoes in when making the mashed potatoes
2 cups mashed potatoes
2-3 tbsp cooking fat Romanians use sunflower seed oil now, but I prefer to use lard or ghee, which is probably what they used traditionally.
a few cloves minced garlic
1-2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sour cream

Kashkaval or branza cheese - or any other cheese that sounds delicious to you. Feta or dry ricotta are good choices but the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Instructions

Mix the first three ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add the warm potato-water. You can use a spoon but the Romanians who taught me all said it tastes better when you mix it by hand.
Once the dough is fully mixed, knead for about ten minutes until it stops sticking to your hand and the side of the bowl. Then cover with a cloth and let rise for about an hour, or until it's doubled in size.
Knead the dough briefly to warm it up again and then divide into ten equally sized balls. Roll into flat pancakes. Divide potatoes into ten equal portions and place in the center of the dough pancakes.
Take the edges of the pancakes and place over the mashed potatoes so that the potatoes are fully encased by dough. Then take your rolling pin and roll the balls so that they are flat again. Do this carefully so that potatoes don't peek out from the dough. You want the potatoes fully covered. Let the pancakes rest for about 10 minutes.
Heat 1/3 of the cooking fat/oil in the skillet and place the pancake gently in the skillet. Cook on each side for about 3 minutes, or until they turn golden brown.
While still warm, spread some butter over the pancake, and sprinkle some minced garlic on top of that.
Keep the rest of the placintas warm in the oven while the last cook. Right before serving, spread with sour cream and sprinkle with cheese.

Notes

These are delicious but quite filling - and designed to keep peasant countrymen fed during full days of work. All that to say, eat them slowly. They expand once they are in your stomach! Bon appetite!