Cottage Cheese Vareniki
Submitted by tressa
Homemade Ukrainian vareniki filled with seasoned cottage cheese, boiled until puffy, then tossed in melted butter and topped with toasted breadcrumbs. Serve with sour cream and bacon.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minVareniki are Ukraine’s beloved filled dumplings, and this cottage cheese version is one of the most traditional fillings you can make.
The dough itself uses cottage cheese blended with egg and milk, which gives it a tender, slightly tangy quality that pairs with the simple cheese filling inside.
Rolled thin, cut into rounds or squares, and sealed by hand, each little dumpling gets boiled in salted water until it puffs up and floats to the surface.
A generous toss in melted butter and a shower of breadcrumbs browned in more butter is the classic finish. Add a dollop of cold sour cream and crumbled bacon on top if you want the full experience.
This is slow, meditative kitchen work that rewards you with something store-bought dumplings can never match.
Chef Tips
- Keep assembled vareniki covered with a towel on a floured board so they don’t dry out and crack
- Boil in small batches. Crowding the pot makes them stick together and cook unevenly
- Stir gently with a wooden spoon right after dropping them in to prevent sticking to the bottom
- If your cottage cheese is very dry, add an extra egg yolk or spoonful of sour cream to the filling so it stays creamy
Ingredients
Directions
NOODLES:
Dough:
First mix flour with the salt.
Combine the egg, milk and cottage cheese in blender.
Stir combination into the flour and salt and knead to make a soft dough.
Cover and let the dough stand for 10 minutes.
Filling:
In a bowl, combine the cottage cheese with the egg, and season to taste with salt.
The filling should be thick enough to hold its shape in a spoon.
Roll the dough quite thin on a floured board.
Cut rounds with a large biscuit cutter or with the rim of a glass.
For speedier work, the dough may be cut into 2 to 2½ inch squares.
Put a round or square of dough on the palm of your hand.
Place a spoonful of the cheese filling on the dough, fold it over to form a half circle or triangle, and press the edges together with your fingers.
The edges should be free of filling.
Be sure that the edges are sealed well to prevent the filling from running out.
Place the vareniki on a floured board or a kitchen towel (don’t crowd them), and cover with a kitchen towel to prevent drying.
Drop a few vareniki at a time into a large quantity of rapidly boiling salted (optional) water.
Do not attempt to cook too many at a time.
Stir very gently with a wooden spoon to separate the vareniki and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Continue boiling for 3 or 4 minutes.
Vareniki are ready when they are well puffed.
Remove them to a colander and drain thoroughly.
Place in a deep dish, sprinkle generously with melted butter, and toss very gently to coat them evenly with butter.
Serve in a large dish without piling or crowding them.
Top with bread crumbs.
The traditional accompaniment is sour cream or crumbled bacon, or both.
An additional egg or egg yolk, or some thick sour cream, may be used in the filling if the cottage cheese is very dry.
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