Croatian Cheese Pie Recipes

CHEESE GALETTE (PRISNAC)

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt. Add oil and yogurt and mix with a spoon (or hands) until you get soft dough. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough on a floured surface. Place the dough in oiled and floured 11 inches (28 cm) round pan. The dough should be about 2 inches larger than a pan.
• In another bowl, whisk 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white (reserve the yolk) with a fork. Add cream, cheese, salt, sugar and semolina. Mix to combine all ingredients and pour into prepared crust.
• Fold the outer edges of the dough over the filling. Brush both the dough and the filling with leftover egg yolk.
• Bake Cheese Galette in 375 F (175 C) preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Let cool a little bit before serving.

CROATIAN CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• Make dough following this schedule: flour, breadcrumbs, and lemon rinds, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla flavored sugar and melted butter.
• Mix everything in a bowl and at the end add egg yolks.
• Mix some more and add sour cream. Mix more until you get nice greasy dough. If it is too greasy you can add some more flour.
• When done, put into refrigerator for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, put the dough out and work a little to make it soft. Cut ¼ of the dough and put aside.
• Prepare the stuffing by mixing well cheese, sour cream, yolks, sugar, and vanilla sugar.
• Soak raisins in plum brandy or rum until swell up (usually 2 hours).
• From egg white make "snow" and add into stuffing, and add raisins. At the end add grated lemon rinds.
• Roll the rest of dough into ½ cm thin sheet. Cover the bottom of 28cm low rim cake pan with butter, and put onto it a dough sheet. Make sure that the rim is also covered with dough from inside.
• Pour cheese stuffing on dough.
• Roll the rest of the dough into thin sheet and put over the cheese making sure that it is covered.
• Poke 10 holes with a fork on the cover.
• Put the pie into preheated oven on 180°C and bake 50-60 minutes or until it gets light golden.

PHYLLO CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• Filling: In a large bowl, combine filling ingredients. Whisk until ingredients are completely integrated. Heat oven to 390°F (200°C).
• Assembly: Grease a baking pan. Layer one phyllo sheet on the bottom of the pan. Brush a thin layer of (butter and oil) coating over the sheet. Add another sheet of phyllo on top of the first one and repeat the coating.
• Grab a generous amount of filling (about 4 tablespoons), and spread evenly over the top sheet. Layer two sheets on top of the filling, coating each before adding the next layer (just like in step two). (If phyllo is larger than the pan, you can fold, crumple or cut it until it fits.) Top with the filling again and spread it evenly. Repeat phyllo, coating and filling layers until you run out ingredients. Make sure the last, top, pie layer has at least 2-3 sheets of phyllo. Brush it with coating last time and put the pan in the oven.
• Bake 15 min. Rotate the pan and continue baking another 15-20 minutes. Monitor the pie so it doesn't blush too much (or burn). If it blushes too much lower the temperature to 360°F (180°C) or cover with foil.
• Topping: In a small pan combine milk and butter. Warm up the milk just until the butter melts. Take the cheese pie out of the oven. Using a teaspoon distribute the topping evenly over the pie. Turn the oven off and return the pie inside for a few minutes.
• Serve 20-30 minutes (an hour is even better!) after baking. Store in a cool place (outside) for up to a day. Transfer to the fridge for up to 2-3 days. (Cover in plastic wrap.) Use your favorite reheating method, or eat cold. Do not freeze.