Discover the Transylvanian version of a wine-and-cheese night.
This recipe is from my university days, courtesy of my husband's colleague Hilde. Over the years it's become a firm family favourite. It always reminds me of my happy university days, as that’s when Hilde cooked it for us for the first time. It also reminds me of my hometown, Medias, because it has plenty of sour cream and cheese (staples in Transylvanian cuisine) and white wine (Medias is in the middle of one of the best white wine regions in Romania, along the gentle hills of the Tarnava valley).
Enjoy!
photo by @yolanda_visions
savoury crepes in a mushroom & white wine sauce
4 portions
Ingredients
Batter (makes 8 crepes):
all-purpose flour - 200g
eggs - 2
milk - 600ml
salt - 1 teaspoon
Mushroom sauce:
sliced champignon mushrooms - 2 cans of 400g each
sour cream - 150g
Vegeta (Croatian vegetable seasoning or homemade Vegeta, see the tips & cheats section) - 1 teaspoon
alternative: chicken stock - 1 cube
dry white wine - 150ml
alternative: lemon juice from ½ lemon
black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
cornstarch - 3 tablespoons, mixed with 4 tablespoons of water
salt - to taste
fresh parsley leaves - 1 bunch, chopped
Crepe filling:
cascaval (or any yellow cheese that melts well) – 300g, grated
Feta cheese - 100g, grated
Additional:
butter - 50g
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Mix all batter ingredients together and let it rest for 10 minutes. While the batter rests, get started on the mushroom sauce.
In a pot on low heat, add the mushrooms including the liquid from the cans, the Vegeta or chicken cube, wine, cream, salt and pepper and leave it to slowly bubble for 5 minutes.
Add the cornstarch to the sauce and mix until thickened. Turn off the stove and add the parsley leaves.
Melt the butter in a pan and, if needed, use a pastry brush to spread it evenly. Once the pan is hot, pour one ladle of batter into it and slowly rotate the pan to spread it into a thin layer. Flip the crepe and cook it on the other side too.
Fill each crepe with cheese, around 50g in each, place them in an oven-proof dish, and bake them in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese melts.
Remove the crepes from the oven and cover them with the mushroom and wine sauce. Serve immediately.
Tips & cheats
Cascaval is the most common yellow cheese in Romania. In the original recipe, Hilde mixed it with a bit of telemea, the Romanian feta-style cheese. If you can't find these particular cheeses, they are very easy to substitute. I like cheddar, gouda, Emmental and goat feta cheese. You can use any cheese you like, but it needs to melt well. If you don’t like feta cheese, just skip it and work only with the yellow cheese.
It's not always easy to find Vegeta outside of central/eastern Europe, so I figured out how to make my own. Here is my homemade Vegeta recipe .
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