Varenyky with salty curd cheese is a popular recipe from the past, when cheese was preserved with salt inside wooden barrels by regularly adding new layers of cheese.

As a result, vanenyky with salty curd cheese mixed with chopped dill, dressed with smetana or a sprinkling of pork crackling have become a signature dish in the Ukrainian cuisine.   

We recommend to dress the vanernyky with smoked smetana – it is easy to make and simply delicious. The recipe is using a pate a choux dough which is absolutely perfect for the dish, this will be a real hit on the dinner table. The recipe for the publication was developed by Yaroslav Artiukh.

So let’s get started.

!	Cooking time: 150 min. Serves 2 people.

Ingredients

For the dough: 
• 60 g milk 
• 30 g butter, 82.3 % 
• 1–2 eggs 
• 130 g wheat flour 
• 3 g sugar 
• 3 g salt 

For the filling: 
• 200 g home-made soft cheese with high fat content 
• 10 g fresh dill
• salt to taste.

For the smoked smetana dressing: 
• 20 g smoked bacon or ham  
• 60 g smetana

For the sauce: 
• 20 g hard cheese 
• 100 g cream, 30 % fat

Cooking method

Prepare the smoked smetana dressing. Slice the smoked bacon or ham and place the slices in a bowl together with the smetana; cover with cling film and let rest for 2 hours.

To make the filling: mix the soft or curd cheese with minced dill, season with salt and mix with a blender.

To make the cheese sauce: bring the cream to the boil, remove from the heat and add the grated cheese. Stir with a whisk until the mixture starts to thicken and becomes smooth; season with salt.

For the dough: pour the milk into a saucepan, add the butter, salt and sugar. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat and gradually add half the flour. Keep stirring energetically with a wooden spatula until the batter has thickened. It should turn into a smooth ball; at the bottom of the pan the batter should form a lightly golden brown crust. Take off the heat and continue to stir. As it cools down to 65–70 ˚С, gradually one by one fold in the eggs. Keep stirring for 2 more minutes, add the rest of the flour and knead the dough for 5 more minutes. Cover the ready dough with a cloth and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then remove it from the fridge and roll it out 3–5 millimetres thick. Cut out the varenyky with a cutter or use a cup. Distribute the filling and seal the varenyky, then place them onto a chopping board sifted with flour. 

Cook in lightly salted boiling water for 3-5 minutes until the varenyky rise to the surface. 

Arrange the varenyky and smetana on a plate. Dress with cheese sauce.

On the photo the varenyky are decorated with fresh dill and cucumber.

Photo by Oksana Sybydlo

Partner

The recipe is part of “Ukraine. Food and Culture”, a coffee table edition developed to promote Ukrainian food culture overseas and published by їzhakultura/їzhak publishing with support from the Ukrainian Institute.