Cheese Blintzes

Cheese Blintzes
From Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Makes 1 dozen blintzes

Ingredients:
Crepe/Blintz:
3 eggs
1 cup cold water
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup flour
Filling:
1½ lbs/680 g dry cottage cheese
3 eggs
1½ tbsp melted butter
1-2 tbsp sugar
lemon juice to taste (½ lemon to start)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla (I only use this when I’m making dessert blintzes)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C

2. Combine eggs, water, salt and oil in blender until well mixed. Then add flour in 2 batches. Mix until there are no lumps. Gently stir to remove air bubbles and let sit for at least 30 minutes before frying (this eliminates holes in the crepes).

Tip: When I have the time (or remember), I actually let it sit overnight in the fridge. It’s amazing what a difference it makes. You’ll rarely have to waste the first couple of crepes because they have too many holes.

3. Pour batter (about ¼ cup) into a hot, lightly greased 8” non-stick frying pan. Rotate the pan quickly so that mixture covers the bottom completely and evenly. Fry on one side only. The crepe is ready when it appears dry on the top. The underside will be golden in parts.

4. Turn out the crepe, gently prying the edges, onto waxed or parchment paper, with browned side up. You can overlap the crepes slightly, but don’t completely overlap them while they are hot as they will stick together.

Filling:
1. In a large bowl, mix all the filling ingredients together and place 1 heaping soup spoonful (about ¼ -⅓ cup) of filling in center of crepe.

2. Make an envelope (bottom of crepe over filling, then one side, other side and lastly the top).

3. Fry briefly in butter on both sides and then bake seam side down for 15 minutes at 300°F/150°C to heat through without burning the crepes.

Tip: Sometimes, if I make a small batch I just stick the skillet in the oven, so make sure yours is oven proof. Usually I use a lightly greased Pyrex baking dish that will hold all the blintzes with a little room between each of them…the blintzes will swell a little in the oven (see photo) and then deflate when you serve them.

Serve with sour cream.