Cheese Pastries

Romanian Cheese Pastries made with farmer's cheese or cow's cheese and puff pastry, a fantastic savoury snack or appetizer for absolutely any occasion. They are a big hit with kids and grown-ups alike, and are quick and easy to make, and so delicious too.

Cow's cheese is a sample food in Romania, and many people who live in the countryside make their own cheese. My grandmother used to make it all the time when I was a child, and that cheese was absolutely the best.

You can enjoy this cheese on its own, in a sandwich, in desserts like Romanian Papanasi or our Easter bread, in sweet pastries that can be made in a similar way to these savoury ones, but the addition of sugar and raisins/sultanas.

These are just a very few options, but the sky is the limit when it comes to putting some good old cow's cheese to use. If you don't find any farmer's cheese, the best replacement would be cottage cheese or feta cheese.

Puff pastry is easily available pretty much everywhere, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem finding it. Making your own can be an option, but then, who has the time to make homemade puff pastry? Not me, anyway.

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• Ingredients needed
• Step-by-step photos and instructions
• Expert tips
• Cheese Pastries

Ingredients needed

• ready-rolled puff pastry
• cow's cheese (farmer's cheese)
• eggs - one for the filling and one for brushing
• ground black pepper

Step-by-step photos and instructions

These pastries are pretty similar to the Spanakopita Triangles (Greek Feta and Spinach Pies). The Greek ones are traditionally made with phyllo pastry, and the combo of cheese and spinach is a must.

• add the cheese to a bowl, and use a fork to crumble it
• add an egg and ground black pepper, and mix well to get a paste - there is no need to add salt here, as the cheese is salty enough
• cut the rolled puff pastry into rectangles, add a tablespoon of the cheese mixture in the middle, and fold it over to get a triangle
• use a fork to seal the edges well, brush each triangle with egg wash, and prick it in a few places for the steam to escape during baking
• bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 25 minutes or until golden

Expert tips

These pastries can be enjoyed either hot or cold, and they are an excellent addition to your picnic basket. They last well at room temperature for a few days, there is no need to add them to any special food container.

The egg wash gives the pastries a nice shine and golden colour, and I highly recommend using it, but if you don't have any extra eggs, the pastries will still be alright without the egg wash, just not as golden.

As with the English Potato, Cheese and Onion Pasty, there are quite a lot of ingredients that can be added to them, although I must say, the simpler, the better.

These were my absolutely favourite snacks when I was little, and they still are. They are filling, delicious, and a real crowd pleaser every single time.

If you’ve tried my ROMANIAN CHEESE PASTRIES or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.