A cheese blintz is really just a fancy word for a crepe stuffed with ricotta or another type of sweet cheese and lightly fried or baked. Although don’t take it’s basic explanation as an indicator that this simple dish is bland. It’s quite the opposite and has been a treat in places around Eastern Europe for quite a while. In fact, the Russian word for crepe is “blini”, which has an origin in the word “blintz”.
A blintz is a simple crepe (learn how to make crepes here) or very thin pancake that’s filled with stuffing – which can be either sweet or savory – folded up and then pan fried lightly before serving. Cheese blintzes are one of the more popular varieties and that’s what we’re going to teach you how to make today.
However, in Russian culture, it’s common to find a blintz stuffed with mushrooms, chopped chicken, ground beef and spices, and even caviar and used as an appetizer, a snack, or even a quick lunch.
How to Make a Cheese Blintz
Making a cheese blintz is incredibly simple, especially if you’ve already got the process of making crepes down. But let’s assume that you’re starting from scratch, in which case, making a cheese blintz consists of three parts:
- Making crepes
- Stuffing the crepes
- Frying or Baking the Blintz
Making Crepes
To start, let’s go over the process of making crepes. Crepes are incredibly similar to pancakes – just much, much thinner. This means that the batter is also a lot runnier (so don’t think you messed up and try to thicken it because your crepes will not come out perfectly). Gather the following ingredients: 2 eggs; 1 cup of all purpose flour; 1/2 cup of water; 1/2 cup of milk; 2 Tablespoons of melted butter; and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Whisk the milk, eggs, water, and butter in a large bowl. Add in the salt and sift in the flour slowly as you whisk, so that everything gets mixed together and there’s no lumps. Keep whisking until the mixture is completely smooth and there are no visible clumps of flour.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and melt a little butter into the pan. When the pan is hot enough, pour in about a 1/4 cup of crepe batter into the skillet. Tilt the skillet in a circle so that the batter spreads out in a perfect circle around the pan. Cook until the crepe turns golden brown (around two minutes) and then slide it out of the skillet. Repeat this process until you have a stack of crepes.
Stuffing the Crepes
The best part about a cheese blintz is that you can play around with the stuffing ingredients and try different things. We’re going to focus on plain cheese blintzes, but you can easily add in flavored syrups, jams, or fruit to give a little extra kick to your blintz. Feel free to be creative here.
In a large mixing bowl, mix 1 cup of ricotta cheese; 8 ounces cream cheese; 1 egg yolk; 1/4 cup granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Once it’s thoroughly mixed, spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the filling mixture onto the bottom half of a crepe. Fold that part over towards the top of the crepe, fold in the sides, and roll the remainder of the crepe up so that the filling is completely enclosed inside of the crepe. Use the same technique you’d use for a burrito, and you’re on the right track. Once you have your stack of cheese blintzes ready to go, you can move on to the last step.
Frying or Baking the Blintz
In a skillet (feel free to reuse the one you made crepes in) over medium high heat, heat up 2 Tablespoons of oil (we prefer olive oil or peanut oil). Once it’s hot enough, add a few blintzes to the skillet. Cook for two minutes on each side – or until each cheese blintz is lightly browned and slightly crispy on the outside. Serve warm as is, or top them with a drizzle of syrup or slices of fruit – whatever your preference is.
Do you have a favorite way to make a cheese blintz? Have any fun twists on an old recipe? Share them with us in the comments!
