Plăcintă [Moldovan Fried Cheese Dough]

Very proud to say that this is the first ever Moldovan dish that I have ever made! I love global foods and was inspired by other global food blogs to try and branch out and make foods from countries that I have never explored or know very much about.

Moldovan countryside. Photo by Elijah Solomon Elijahsol.com

I randomly looked up Moldovan foods and these golden fried goodies came up. I decided that these would be perfect for dipping my toes in the water with global cuisine.

I was especially interested because of the use of fresh dill. I wanted to put our dill plant to good use!

One of our chickens was curious and ending up pecking herself a bite.

If you are in need of a filling meal, this will do the trick. The creamy cheese filling is right at home inside the fried dough, and the dill adds a fresh tang.

Monastery in the Moldovan Countryside

Besides this being my first time trying food from Moldova, it was also my first time frying anything in olive oil.





This recipe was loved by everyone I shared it with. It really makes me want to explore more foods from Moldova and the surrounding regions, and not to mention, trying Moldovan food and learning about the region and culture really makes me want to travel there too!

Plăcintă

Servings: 4 Time: active time: 30 minutes rising time: 50 minutes Source: Adapted from Flavor Shades

Ingredients
Dough
125g sour cream
1 egg
4 tbsp olive oil, plus more for frying
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp dry instant yeast
350g all purpose flour

Cheese Filling
pinch of salt
chopped fresh dill to taste
1 egg
210g farmer cheese


Dough
Step 1
Combine all dough ingredients in a large bowl. Knead together for about 2 minutes after already incorporated. Dough may be wet. Do not worry, do not adjust more flour yet, this will be done after rising.
Step 2
Cover the dough and let rise for 25 minutes.
Step 3
Knead the dough again in the bowl for about 1 minute. Cover and let rise for 25 minutes again.

Cheese Filling
Step 4
Meanwhile, in another bowl combine all cheese filling ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

Assembly
Step 5
Once the dough is done rising divide the dough into 4 portions. Add more flour a little by little to improve consistency if it is too wet. Individually stretch out each portion one at a time into a disk shape. Spread some cheese filling into the middle and cover by folding the sides over to cover it. Repeat with all portions.
Step 6
Heat a shallow layer of olive oil in a pan and once it is hot add a portion of dough or two depending on how large your pan is. Let fry, turning occasionally to brown sides evenly for each portion.
Step 7
Serve warm.