Nalesniki: Filling and FoldingLenten Foods: Polish Crêpes or Polish PancakesMar 8, 2007 Georgene A. Bramlage
Nalesniki (Polish Crêpes), Lenten favorites, are thin pancakes rolled or folded around sweet or savory fillings. Lightly browned or baked, they make mouth-watering meals.
Even though Nalesniki are well suited for meatless Lenten meals, they make delightful snacks or light meals year-round. Recipes for savory and sweet fillings are as numerous as seasonal specialties. The four unique ways of folding or rolling these thin pancakes around fillings, and then browning or baking them, create mouth-watering Polish dishes. Some cooks use their Pierogi filling recipes for Nalesniki as well. Others prefer lighter ingredients. Nuns of the Immaculate Conception near the village of Szymanow operate a private boarding and secondary school for girls. They also cater light meals for scheduled visiting groups. Their wonderful meals include Nalesniki folded around homemade diced and spiced apple filling, and dusted with cinnamon and sugar. The Café Chata in Czestochowa (near Kraków) specializes in light meals and lists an almost endless variety of fillings. Diners, depending upon the season and time of day, can request Nalesniki filled with
Recipes for FillingsSavory White Cheese Filling
Sweet White Cheese Filling
Break-up cheese in a hand grinder, large-pore sieve, or food processor. Do not puree! In a medium bowl combine sieved cheese, eggs with chives, salt and white pepper; or sugar, melted butter or margarine and vanilla. ***A small amount of cleaned and fresh fruit like berries, tropical fruit, or apples can be added to the cheese mixture and sugar adjusted to taste. One variation is to make a small amount of sauce from the fruit and spoon it over the browned or baked cheese-filled Nalesniki. Filling and Folding Nalesniki***Place Nalesniki seam down in frying or baking pan as you fill and fold them. Here are the four traditional ways of filling and folding Nalesniki:
Method 1 – Melt a small amount of unsalted butter or margarine in a frying pan. Sauté Nalesniki, seam-side down, over medium heat about 3 minutes on each side. Place on a warm plate or serving platter. Garnish with fresh diced and sweetened fruit, or a warm cooked fruit sauce. Serve with sour cream. Method 2 – Preheat oven 350° to 375°. Place Nalesniki, seam side down, in well buttered baking dish, in layers if necessary; drench with melted unsalted butter or dot with cold unsalted butter. Bake for about 30 minutes or until heated through with top layer attractively browned. Serve with sweetened diced berries or fruit or warm fruit sauce; sour cream on the side. Tips:The following books contain a good selection of variations for the basic pancake/crêpe recipes as well as recipes for multi-ingredient fillings:
The first article in this series Nalesniki – Polish Crêpes: Preparation and Cooking explains a little of the background of this Lenten treat as well as how to prepare the Nalesniki / pancake batter and cook it. ©Text by Georgene A. Bramlage March 2007. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
The copyright of the article Nalesniki: Filling and Folding in Seasonal Cooking is owned by Georgene A. Bramlage. Permission to republish Nalesniki: Filling and Folding in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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