Cottage Cheese Vareniki

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Title: COTTAGE CHEESE VARENIKI
Categories: Pasta, Ethnic
Yield: 6 servings

2 c Flour
1 ts Salt
1 lb Cottage cheese (may use
-low-fat)
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c Milk
Melted butter
Bread crumbs, browned in
-butter
Sour cream (optional)
Fried bacon, crumbled
-(optional)
COTTAGE-CHEESE FILLING:
1 lb Dry cottage cheese
1 Egg, lightly beaten
Salt

Source: The Good Cook - Pasta, 1980 (Traditional
Ukrainian Cookery) Serves: 6

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 - 2 1/2 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 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.

<< Joyce Monschein >>

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