Even if you yourself are not Ukrainian you can’t live in Alberta without having friends or extended family who are. I have an aunt, cousins, and many childhood friends whose ancestors came from the Ukraine. This recipe, nalysnyky, is one of our absolute favourites. I grew up with my Great Aunt making it for our Christmas meal on my father’s side of the family, spoiler alert, she’s not Ukrainian. Just goes to show how ingrained and loved Ukrainian culture and food is in our province.
We debated whether we should share this recipe at Christmas, as that is when we have memories of this meal but thought it best to share it before Easter. After all, you can’t think about Easter without thinking about those beautifully decorated easter eggs the Ukrainians are known for. Now just a word of warning, Mom and I don’t have a Ukrainian bone in our bodies. And although we have always wanted a Baba of our own to pass down their knowledge to us, we have not been so lucky. So, this is our version of this delicious Ukrainian dish.
If you know me well then you know that there is nothing I love more than carbohydrates. For as long as I can remember I have been obsessed with bread, muffins, biscuits, pasta, cookies, and crepes. Basically, anything that has flour in it. Can you imagine how exited I was to have crepes filled with cheese, rolled, and then baked in cream? Lets just say my favourite part of Christmas has always been the food, and I think most of my family would agree.
A few years ago we decided to have a quiet Christmas with just my mother, father, brother and myself. This presented us with a problem. Who would make the crepes? Christmas without Nalynsky would not be the same so mom and I decided to make our own and we finally have a recipe we are happy to share with all of you.
We may not be Ukrainian in bone or blood, but we are Ukrainian in heart. This is our small of way of standing in solidarity with a country that has given us so much.
Filling Ingredients
1 454g container of traditional ricotta
2-2½ tsp fresh dill or to taste
½ tbsp granulated sugar
Combine the ricotta, fresh dill, and sugar in a small bowl. Allow for the ricotta filling to come to room temperature. This will make the ricotta easier to spread when assembling the nalysnyky. Consider making the filling the day before and storing it in the fridge overnight as it will allow for the flavours to marry further.
Crepe Ingredients
4 large eggs*
1 cup milk*
½ cup water*
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
*For best results allow these ingredients to come to room temperature.
In a large bowl whisk eggs one at a time. It is important to follow this step to ensure your batter has less lumps.
Add the milk and water, whisking until combined.
Next whisk in the flour and salt removing as many lumps as you can. Allow for the batter to sit for about 10 minutes before whisking it once more. While it’s sitting the lumps of flour hydrate making it easier to whisk a few more lumps out.
Having lumps in your crepe batter is not a huge deal. If you want the batter to be smoother you can strain it into another bowl. We like to put ours in a large measuring cup so we can pour the batter when we go to measure it.
To make the crepes preheat your pan. We use a 10 inch nonstick pan. Measure out ⅓ of a cup of the batter.
Once the pan is hot, pour ¼ of a cup of batter into the pan, swirling it until it evenly coats the bottom. Cook for approximately one minute.
We have come across many recipes that tell you not to flip the crepe, but we like ours a little brown on either side. If you choose to flip the crepe loosen the edges from the side of the pan and gently flip it with a spatula.
This batter should make approximately 10 crepes depending on the size of pan you choose to use and if you make a mistake or two.
Tip from Jane: Between each crepe you make stir the batter. This ensures each crepe has the same consistency as the flour will settle to the bottom as it sits.
Once the crepe has cooled we can start assembling the nalysnyky. Spread a ¼ cup of the filling evenly over the crepes right to the edge. Starting on one end roll the crepe all the way to the opposite edge.
Our next step is to cut the crepes. The edge pieces do taper off so if you want them to be consistent in shape and size you can trim the edges. We usually leave them as is and divide the crepes into three.
Place the crepes into a baking pan of your choice. For our photos we chose a smaller pan because the colour went with our setting. When we are not taking photos or serving it family style, we will use a 9 by 11 baking pan. Spreading the crepes out instead of stacking them allows for them to heat through quicker.
Once they are all in the pan pour the whipping cream over the crepes.
Tip from Jane: Before pouring the whipping cream heat it slightly in the microwave, this will reduce the baking time of the crepes.
Cover the crepes with tinfoil. We like also place the baking pan on a baking sheet covered in tinfoil. This way if the cream boils over, which it has once or twice, it keeps the oven clean.
Bake in a 350°F oven for approximately 20-40 minutes. The crepes should be heated through and the cream will come to a soft simmer. Time may vary depending on the temperature of the cream and the size of your pan. Just make sure to keep an eye on it. Enjoy!
Nalysnyky
Ingredients
- 1 454g container of traditional ricotta
- 2-2½ tsp fresh dill or to taste
- ½ tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Combine the ricotta, fresh dill, and sugar in a small bowl. Allow for the ricotta filling to come to room temperature. This will make the ricotta easier to spread when assembling the nalysnyky. Consider making the filling the day before and storing it in the fridge overnight as it will allow for the flavours to marry further.
- In a large bowl whisk eggs one at a time. It is important to follow this step to ensure your batter has less lumps.
- Add the milk and water, whisking until combined.
- Next whisk in the flour and salt removing as many lumps as you can. Allow for the batter to sit for about 10 minutes before whisking it once more. While it’s sitting the lumps of flour hydrate making it easier to whisk a few more lumps out.
- Having lumps in your crepe batter is not a huge deal. If you want the batter to be smoother you can strain it into another bowl. We like to put ours in a large measuring cup so we can pour the batter when we go to measure it.
- To make the crepes preheat your pan. We use a 10 inch nonstick pan. Measure out ¼ of a cup of the batter.
- Once the pan is hot, pour ⅓ of a cup of batter into the pan, swirling it until it evenly coats the bottom. Cook for approximately one minute.
- We have come across many recipes that tell you not to flip the crepe, but we like ours a little brown on either side. If you choose to flip the crepe loosen the edges from the side of the pan and gently flip it with a spatula.
- Once the crepe has cooled we can start assembling the nalysnyky. Spread a ¼ cup of the filling evenly over the crepes right to the edge. Starting on one end roll the crepe all the way to the opposite edge.
- Our next step is to cut the crepes. The edge pieces do taper off so if you want them to be consistent in shape and size you can trim the edges. We usually leave them as is and divide the crepes into three.
- Place the crepes into a baking pan of your choice. For our photos we chose a smaller pan because the colour went with our setting. When we are not taking photos or serving it family style, we will use a 9 by 11 baking pan. Spreading the crepes out instead of stacking them allows for them to heat through quicker.
- Once they are all in the pan pour the whipping cream over the crepes.Tip from Jane: Before pouring the whipping cream heat it slightly in the microwave, this will reduce the baking time of the crepes.
- Cover the crepes with tinfoil. We like also place the baking pan on a baking sheet covered in tinfoil. This way if the cream boils over, which it has once or twice, it keeps the oven clean.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for approximately 20-40 minutes. The crepes should be heated through and the cream will come to a soft simmer. Time may vary depending on the temperature of the cream and the size of your pan. Just make sure to keep an eye on it. Enjoy!
