Savory Cheese Pie (Placinta cu Branza)
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This delicious savory cheese pie is truly a treat. A must try! Super simple to make with puff pastry.
This is such an easy savory cheese pie recipe. I don’t think cheese pies are as popular here in North America as they are in Europe and especially Turkey. There are so many variations of cheese pies, but I found a very easy way for me to make these. Whenever I make them. my husband and I fight over them, that’s how good they are. For these you can use any puff pastry you can find. I do not make the puff pastry so that’s why this is so easy.
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Savory Cheese Pie (Placinta cu Branza)
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 1 hr
Total: 1 hr 20 mins
Serves: 16
This delicious savory cheese pie is truly a treat. A must try! Super simple to make with puff pastry.
Ingredients
- 2 cups feta cheese
- 500 ml ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 4 pieces puff pastry
- fresh dill optional
Instructions
- Grate the feta cheese in a bowl and mix with ricotta cheese and egg. The reason I add ricotta cheese is so that the pie doesn’t end up being too salty, so the mixture is half feta and half ricotta.
- Roll out your puff pastry and spread 1/4 of the cheese mixture then roll up the dough. Repeat with remainder of puff pastry, brush with egg wash and poke holes in each pastry with a fork.
- Bake in the oven at 375 F degrees for about an hour or until deep golden brown. Note, you do not have to butter the baking sheet, the puff pastry has plenty of butter in it so it will not stick.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 445kcal (22%)Carbohydrates: 29g (10%)Protein: 11g (22%)Fat: 32g (49%)Saturated Fat: 11g (69%)Cholesterol: 43mg (14%)Sodium: 392mg (17%)Potassium: 86mg (2%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 235IU (5%)Calcium: 165mg (17%)Iron: 1.9mg (11%)
Enjoy!
Gina says
When you say “roll up the dough,” what do you mean? Fold it? In a triangle or rectangle shape? Thank you!
Gina says
I found the answer in your other comments. Thank you!
jo says
You roll it up jelly roll style.
Lisa says
I’ve just eaten a piece of cheese pie, wonderful! I did them exactly to the recipe but made turnovers. Will definitely be a regular make!
Mary Popa says
My mom made something like this she was from Sidbu Romania or something like that and Transylvania. but she didn’t use the puff pastry dough she made her own go and I didn’t like to mess with the dough so I didn’t watch her she use cream cheese brick cheese cottage cheese egg sugar and vanilla and she made a big I like pizza crust but it was delicious and she put it in a real big square pan or rectangle pan and then she just bake it like a pizza. I want to learn how to make that she died when I was just 14 and now I’m 59 so I’ve been looking for recipes do you have any good dough recipes that I could make or start trying out something for dessert cuz she punch it down and let it rise punch it down and let it ride like three times and then she would use it or she didn’t put nothing on top it would cook like a pizza. And then she made this other thing with fried cabbage and bacon and black pepper and then that’s had the crust on top and the cabbage inside it’s delicious lots of Romanian bacon and onion and cabbage. It would be fried and she also shredded it. Thank you
Joanna Cismaru says
I’m not sure about the dough she made but I have this recipe for the cabbage with bacon: https://www.jocooks.com/ingredient/pork-main-courses/braised-cabbage-with-bacon/
Valerie says
Hi Jo, I recently discovered your blog when I was searching placinta recipes. My parents are from the Banat region but I was born here. My mother used to make her own dough for placinta and made it with different fillings such as pumpkin, apples and cheese. When I search recipes for this it comes up on Pinterest in Romanian and in metric. I’m wondering if you have a recipe for placinta cu mere? I’m not opposed to using store bought phyllo but also would love a recipe making homemade if you have it. My mother passed away several years ago and she made this without ever using a recipe. Thanks so much! Valerie
Joanna Cismaru says
Hi Valerie! I have a recipe on the blog for an apple strudel with store bought phyllo, you can find it here, however it’s not a Romanian recipe. If I usually make apple strudels I’ll use store bought puff pastry actually, super easy and fast. I use the same thing for the cheese pie as well. You can find that recipe here.
Kyla says
I haven’t made this yet, but planning on it. Love the addition of ricotta, the cheese they use in Turkey for it is not as salty as the feta we get over here. Can’t wait to eat this, loved having this for breakfast while I was in Turkey. Thanks for sharing!
Tatiana says
Made this yesterday! Yummy!
Susan Duncan says
My Romanian husband is very excited about this recipe!
Katarina says
So good and so easy. My husband and I enjoyed it so much! We used about 2/3 ricotta, since we did not have more feta left, and added some pepper. Looking forward to trying your other recipies!
Joanna Cismaru says
Thank you!! So glad you guys enjoyed this, since this is one of my favorites ever!
B A says
Just made this…excellent! I added a small am’t of dried dill and a pinch of nutmeg! Very nice flavor
Next time I’ll leave dill and nutmeg out but add a few golden raisins!
Thank you:)
Note: Do bake until nice and browned/crispy on the outside
Joanna Cismaru says
Glad you liked this, really one of my favorites!
Tanya says
Can the same method be used to have it filled with potatoes? If so, how would that be done?
SANDRA IVERSON says
I’VE NEVER WORKED WITH PUFF PASTRY, BUT HAVE WATCHED SHOWS WHERE IT HAS BEEN USED. HOW MANY SHEETS ARE IN A PKG. DO I TAKE THEM AND SEPARATE INTO 4 SHEETS OR EVENLY DIVIDE WHAT’S IN THE PKG INTO 4 PILES?
jo says
Hi Sandra,
Usually there are only two sheets of puff pastry, some packages come with the sheets already rolled out, some they come where they’re like little blocks and need rolling out. So to get 4 pies you need 4 sheets. If you only want 2 pies then just buy one package of puff pastry and cut the other ingredients in half.
SANDRA says
THANK YOU! VERY HELPFUL!
Jamie says
Hi, when you say to roll up the dough, what exactly do you mean?
jo says
Roll it up like a strudel, jelly roll style.
shoop exhale says
Hi! Another irresistible recipe for me to try tomorrow. Thank you very much for another great recipe. May God bless you always.
jo says
Thank you so much. This is one of my all time favorite recipes, something we make often, I’m sure you’ll love the pie.
Debbie says
Do you think I could freeze this then reheat?
jo says
OMG it never lasts that long at my house to freeze it. Um, the only thing I’d be worried about is it getting soggy, so make sure it cools completely before you wrap it or it’s probably better if you put it in an air tight container. Not 100% sure it will still be the same but you could try it.
Diana says
You’re so awesome! You have blown my mind once again. One of my favorite Romanian dishes. Now, I just need to get my non-Romanian husband on board with great dishes like this. I wonder if it is great without dill.
Thanks,
Diana
jo says
It is, usually I make it without dill because my husband doesn’t like it with dill. You’ll love it.
Jessica says
Thank you for answering my question! Love your site! 🙂
jo says
Thank you so much Jessica. 🙂
Jessica says
Thank you for the recipe! Can you tell me what you mean when you say to “roll up the dough?” Am I actually supposed to roll it like a roulade, or am I folding it over and tucking the ends under? Sorry for the confusion, but I’m just not sure from looking at the picture!
Looks delicious!
jo says
Hi Jessica
Roll it up like a roulade, and then I just tuck in the ends. No worries. 🙂
ila says
I saw the snap on foodgawker and couldn’t stop myself to see the recipe. Looks so delicious and very easy to make.
jo says
It is, it is, trust me you’ll love it. 🙂