Benkovački prisnac

Ingredients for the dough (crust):

• 35 dag of smooth flour
• warm water
• a teaspoon of salt

Ingredients for the filling:

• 6 eggs
• 20 days of domestic crustacean
• 1 fresh semi-hard sheep’s or cow’s cheese
• a bit of salt

Preparation:

Prepare the crust or pastry dough and roll it out on a floured, round, larger pan. For the filling, beat the eggs lightly (not with a mixer), add the crust, shredded cheese and a little salt and mix everything well. Add the mixture to the prepared crust and flatten. Twist the edges of the crust that are hanging over the mixture so that the middle remains open up to 10 cm, and cut off the excess. Spread the uncovered part of the pastry with egg yolk.

Prisnac was traditionally baked under the oven for half an hour to 40 minutes. Nowadays, it is mostly prepared in a preheated oven for about an hour, initially at 200 degrees, and after half an hour it is reduced to 150 degrees and then to 100 degrees for the last ten minutes. Care should be taken not to burn the prisnac. It is served after it has cooled down a bit.

Remark:

Prisnac in the hinterland of Zadar, in the area of Bukovica and Ravni kotari, is considered the oldest folk cake that was usually prepared on Sundays. Pristeški Prisnac is widely known  (place of Pristeg above Vransko jezera), Benkovački prisnac, and in Zelengrad in August the Prisnac fest has also been prepared in recent years.  Today, grated lemon rind is sometimes added to the filling, but this was not the custom in the traditional preparation of prisnac. This pie made of cream, flour, cheese and eggs is a well-known dessert among the people of Bunjevci, where wedding and holiday cakes were obligatory.