Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Sauce

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The deli version of a crêpe, filled with sweet, comforting cheese and topped with fruit. What’s not to like?

Adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Makes 10

Ingredients: Batter

5 tablespoons butter, melted
Pinch of salt
1½  cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup water
¾ cup milk
3 large eggs

Ingredients: Sauce

1½  cups fresh or frozen Maine blueberries
½ cup sugar
Zest from one lemon
1 tsp cornstarch
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Ingredients: Filling

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt

1½  cups (12 ounces) farmer cheese
½ cup (4 ounces) large-curd cottage cheese (4% milk fat)
1 egg yolk

Ingredients: Other

Butter (to cook Blintzes)

Instructions

  1. Whisk all batter ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, place in the refrigerator, and let set for one hour.
  2. Meanwhile, make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Continue to simmer until sauce has thickened noticeably, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. Make the filling: melt the butter. Then, combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl, stirring vigorously to combine.
  4. Remove batter from the refrigerator, and pre-heat a 10-inch, non-stick frying pan with slanted sides, over medium heat.
  5. Make the blintzes: add a dab of butter to the pan, and swirl to coat the bottom and sides. When butter begins to sizzle, ladle about ¼ cup of batter (2/3 of a ladle) into the pan; tilt and swirl to coat the pan with batter, on the bottom and up the sides about an inch. As the edges of the blintz solidify, swirl the pan occasionally to distribute remaining liquid in the center. The blintz is done when the center of the batter is just barely cooked and no longer flows, and the underside is nicely spotted with golden brown. Slide the blintz out of the pan onto some waxed paper, and repeat with the rest.
  6. Fill the blintzes: Flip a blintz, and place it – cooked side up – on waxed paper. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of filling onto the blintz, on a line horizontal to you, about 1/3 of the way from the bottom, leaving about 1½ to 2 inches clear on each side. Fold the bottom of the blintz up over the cheese; then fold both sides in toward the center, like an envelope. Now fold filled portion over one more time onto the “flap” of the envelope, and set aside. Repeat with remaining blintzes.
  7. Turn the oven to 200°F. If the sauce has cooled, reheat over low heat.
  8. Reheat the non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add a dab of butter; tilt and swirl to coat the pan. When sizzling, fry the outside of the blintzes, 2-3 at a time, bottom (flap) side first; then flip to the other side. The outsides should again be spotted a nice golden brown. Remove to a plate, place in oven to keep warm while finishing remaining batches.
  9. Serve hot with sauce poured over the top.

My husband says: blueberry sauce is a classic, but any berry you’d like to use will work as well, perhaps with a little less sugar.