Plăcintă

Plăcintă is a staple food in Moldova. It can be savory or sweet (my favorite is when it has cherries inside!), and it can be served for festive occasions or just as an everyday food. It is similar to foods I've eaten in other parts of Eastern Europe, such as pita in Bosnia, or burek in Croatia and Serbia.

Today, I happened to be in the kitchen when my host mom started preparing plăcintă so I got to watch and even help a little! She had already prepared the filling and was using pre-made dough, so it was really quick to prepare. She laid the dough sheets out flat and then spread an even layer of the filling on them. Today she used a mixture of brânză (a crumbly white cheese), cașcaval (another type of cheese), a few eggs, and a bit of salt. Once the filling was distributed, she rolled them up and I helped her put them in the pan. She brushed the plăcintă with a beaten egg and let it sit for about 10 minutes before putting it in the oven for about half an hour. Ovens here, including ours, don't really give you the option to set a specific temperature, so I can't say how hot the oven was. But the plăcintă turned out delicious!