Pancakes with chestnut puree - the original recipe of Maramures

One combination is the recipe I am going to present in this article, namely pancakes with chestnut puree. Chestnut puree is not uncommon in the region where this recipe comes from, Maramures.

If you decide that it is something you might like to try, then you will need 1 kg of chestnuts, 2 l of water, 150 g of brown sugar, 300 ml of heavy cream and 1 vanilla stick.

First, we need to boil the chestnuts in the 2 liters of water. Then we drain them well and begin with the most demanding part of the recipe: removing the core. Of the 1 kilogram of chestnuts we will obtain about 600 grams once we have got rid of the shells.

Then we put the chestnuts, the heavy cream, the vanilla stick and the sugar and on the heat and leave it for about 20 minutes. It is ready when the mix has changed its color and the chestnuts are soft.

Now all you need to do is smear some of the puree on a pancake and roll them up. Oh wait, you are probably wondering how you can roll a pancake up. And if you are, you have most likely never seen a Romanian pancake. They are much thinner than the ones you see in American movies.

Here is how you make them. You will need 3 eggs, 300 g of white flour, 300 ml of milk, 300 ml of mineral water, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, a pinch of salt, 1-3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, some lemon zest and 50 ml of cooking oil.

First you break the eggs and whisk them with the salt. You add the flour (all at once) and the sugar and you mix everything together making sure that there are no lumps. Now you can start adding the liquids: the milk, the mineral water and the melted butter. The dough needs to be smooth and somewhat thin.

Now you put a bit of oil in a round pan (a few drops only) and using a ladle, you pour a bit of the dough in the pan. When the pancake starts to detach from the pan, you can turn it over. Do the same with the rest of the dough and when the pancakes are done, fill them with some of the chestnut puree.

Sources:

http://www.teoskitchen.ro/2013/12/clatite-cu-piure-de-castane-creme-de-marrons.html

http://www.feminis.ro/clatite-cu-piure-de-castane_50585.html