Mlinci

[Adam Balic]

Mlinci

This recipe is from Pasta Around the Mediterraneanin th eeCGI

These are the most primitive of the pasta recipes in this course and the pasta I have the most fondness for. They are basically an early solution to the problem of storing wheat flour in a stable, easily transportable form. While variations on Mlinci exist throughout the Balkans, I am familiar with the form cooked in Croatia. Once a year at Christmas, my grandmother would unlock the “Big Room” and we would have a Balic family gathering. Under the rather ugly and prominent painting of Tomislav the Great (he was riding a horse across a field of decapitated heads), the family would gather to bicker, drink and eat. I still wonder why my grandmother had a locked room full of expensive furniture, paintings of unsavoury ancestors, but the thing I remember the most is her Mlinci with Roast Turkey at Christmas.

• 250 g of all-purpose flour
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 c of water
  

Extra flour for dusting

• 
  

1. Pre-heat oven to 150C/300 F.

2. Place flour into a large bowl. Add egg to flour and incorporate. Gradually add water and mix until a dough is formed. The dough should not be sticky at this point. If it is, add slightly more flour.

3. Knead dough on lightly floured bench for eight minutes. Allow to rest for 1 hour.

4. Roll out, using a rolling pin until very thin, about 2 mm thick. The easiest way of accomplishing this is to roll in one direction the full length of the dough, then turn the dough 45 degrees and roll again. Repeat this process until the dough is roughly circular and approximately 2 mm thick.

5. Rest pasta sheet for an hour to dry out a little, and then cut into 15 cm squares. Place these squares carefully onto baking parchment and cook in the pre-heated oven until the pasta sheets have blistered, dried and are a light tan colour, about 20 minutes. Don’t worry if there are some darker patches.

6. Leave to cool. At this point they can be stored and as long as they are moisture-free, they will remain fresh for many weeks, enough time to dispose of a few enemies...a la Tomislav the Great!

Using Mlinci

Mlinci are ‘ready to go’. Basically they can soaked in hot water for 10-15 minutes then mixed with a savoury or sweet dressing and they are ready to eat. However, the way my grandmother would prepare them would be to place the soaked Mlinci under a roasting turkey for the last hour of cooking. Or she would pour the juices from the roasting turkey over the Mlinci and bake them separately. Primitive, but good.

Keywords: Pasta, eGCI

( RG900 )