The roast rhubarb served alongside these sweet cheese-filled blintz, a classic of Jewish cuisine, adds a lovely tart edge – you can roast the rhubarb a day ahead if you like and just reheat in the oven close to serving time. The cinnamon crumb is a little extra work, but the pay-off comes with the texture it adds to the dish. Alternatively, you could scatter with roasted chopped nuts.
Ingredients
Roast rhubarb
Sweet cheese filling
Method
Main
1.For roast rhubarb, preheat oven to 200C. Rinse rhubarb in a colander under running water, shake off excess water then place in a bowl with remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Spread rhubarb mixture in a roasting pan large enough to hold rhubarb in a single layer and roast on top shelf of oven until rhubarb is just tender (15-20 minutes). Keep warm.
2.Meanwhile, place butter, 60gm flour, 50gm sugar, half the cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt in a small bowl and rub butter into dry ingredients with your fingertips until coarse crumbs form, then spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake on lower shelf of oven, stirring occasionally, until browned (10-12 minutes). Cool, coarsely crumble and store in an airtight container until required.
3.For sweet cheese filling, blend ingredients except candied orange in a food processor until smooth and combined, stir in candied orange and refrigerate until required.
4.Blend remaining flour, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor to combine. Add egg and milk and process until smooth. Heat a 20cm-diameter crêpe pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles when added (if the water jumps, it’s too hot). Lightly brush with oil, add 80ml blintz batter, swirl pan to coat evenly and cook until edges are browned (1-2 minutes). Transfer to a piece of baking paper and repeat with remaining batter, separating each blintz with baking paper.
5.Place blintz cooked-side up on a work surface. Spoon 1½-2 tbsp sweet cheese filling across the bottom third of each, about 3cm from lower edge. Fold up base, fold in sides and roll to enclose. Set aside on a tray.
6.Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add half the blintz seam-side down and cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over (3-4 minutes). Transfer to a tray, wipe out pan with absorbent paper and repeat with remaining oil and blintz. Serve hot topped with roast rhubarb and sprinkled with cinnamon crumble and icing sugar.
This recipe is from the April 2013 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Drink Suggestion: Sweet sparkling rosé. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes