Nalesniki with Cheese and Pineapple (налесники)
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
Ingredients for crepes:
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 1 cup milk
- 4 large eggs
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted. Plus more to sauté.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Ingredients for cheese filling:
- 8 oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 16 oz small curd cottage cheese
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 1 can, 15 or 20 oz coarsely chopped pineapple chunks, well-drained
Instructions
-
Put ½ cup lukewarm water, 1 cup milk, 4 large eggs, 4 Tbsp melted unsalted butter, 1 cup all-purpose flour , 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 pinch of salt in a blender and blend until well combined.
-
Melt a dot of butter in 2 non-stick skillets over medium heat. (2 skillets make the process go faster).
-
Pour about 2 to 3 Tbsp of batter into the skillet. I use a 1-ounce measuring cup.
-
As you are pouring into the skillet, swirl the batter to evenly coat the bottom. If you get any small gaps, you can fill them with a few drops of batter.
-
Once the bottom is lightly golden, flip the crepe using a sharp edged spatula to easily get under the crepe.
-
Let the other side get lightly golden and plop the crepe out onto a cutting board.
-
Repeat with all of the batter, using a dot of butter each time if needed. Don’t stack hot crepes on top of each other. Once they are just luke-warm or room temp, they can be stacked.
How to make Cheese & pineapple filling and complete Blinchiki:
-
In a colander, rinse the cottage cheese with cold water and DRAIN WELL. I just let it sit in the colander for 15 minutes and shake it out.
-
Mash the cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar with a potato masher until well combined and creamy. Cottage cheese will still be a little lumpy.
-
Stir in the well-drained bits of pinneaple.
-
Using a spatula, spread 2 generous tablespoons of cheese filling on each crepe.
-
Roll the crepe (nalesniki) into a log and cut in half.
-
Refrigerate crepes that aren’t being served. It keeps in the fridge for almost one week.
To Serve:
-
Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet and sauté the rolled cheese crepes on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. They don’t take long to sauté. Be careful not to burn them.