Romanian Cheese Doughnuts
My husband and I first found these amazing little treats on the menu of a local food truck and they've fast become a favorite that we can't even fault ourselves for overindulging in. Definitely recommend them with warm blueberry preserves or jam for best results, but beware - the last one on the plate might start the kind of battle usually only seen during family Uno games.
For anyone looking for the recipe online, they're typically called "papanasi" (pronounced "papanash").
2 ¼ cups (500 g) cottage cheese
A generous 1/3 cup (75 g) granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (230 g)
Vegetable oil for frying the doughnuts
1 cup (250 g) smetana or crème fraiche for topping
Blueberry jam or preserves (preferably runny) for topping
Optional: a little bit of dark rum!
Note: Smetana is a type of high-fat sour cream sold in Europe. It does not behave the same way as American-style sour cream when used as a cooking ingredient, but since it's used here as a topping you can use greek yogurt as a substitute if needed. (The recipe site calls for crème fraîche, but we're not that fancy.)
Drain the excess water from the cottage cheese. Place the cottage cheese into a bowl, add the eggs and both types of sugar. (And a little kiss of rum, if you want it!) Mix together until the cottage cheese starts to break down to a rough, lightly-chunky paste consistency.
Add the flour and the baking soda to the cheese mixture and mix well with a spoon. Turn the dough onto the floured surface, dust your hands with some flour, and knead the dough lightly to form a ball. The dough should still be somewhat sticky yet manageable. Add a little more flour if it's too sticky to manage.
Divide the dough into roughly equal-sized balls. Some serving suggestions call for more shaping, but a 2-inch ball works just fine.
Heat the oil in a pot. (I suggest using something like a deep saucepan or dutch oven.) Use enough oil to have about 10 cm / 4 inches
of it in the pot. To check if the oil has reached the right temperature, insert a toothpick in the oil; if there are bubbles forming around the toothpick, you can start frying the papanasi.
Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the papanasi one at a time with a slotted spoon, rolling them into the oil gently to avoid splashing. (DO NOT drop them in - hot oil burns are not fun!) Only fry two or three papanasi at a time, depending on the size of your pan, do not overcrowd the pan. The papanasi should be able to move around freely.
Fry each batch for 5-6 minutes. Turn the doughnuts with a slotted spoon a few times until the papanasi are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack or paper-towel covered plate or baking sheet to drain the excess oil.
Serve warm topped with smetana and blueberry jam.
Recipe and Image from Where Is My Spoon
