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Štruklji

Name: Štruklji
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Slovenian
Ingredients: 350 g plain flour; 180 ml warm water; 1 egg, for the dough; 2 tbsp sunflower oil; 1 tsp salt, for the dough; 600 g dry curd cheese (skuta) or twaróg; 2 eggs, for the filling; 150 g sour cream; 30 g fresh tarragon, finely chopped; 2 tbsp caster sugar; 1 tsp salt, for the filling; 80 g butter; 60 g fine breadcrumbs

Slovenian rolled dumplings: thin dough spread with curd and tarragon, rolled, boiled in a cloth and sliced...

Ingredients

350 g plain flour

180 ml warm water

1 egg, for the dough

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp salt, for the dough

600 g dry curd cheese (skuta) or twaróg

2 eggs, for the filling

150 g sour cream

30 g fresh tarragon, finely chopped

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp salt, for the filling

80 g butter

60 g fine breadcrumbs

Method

Work the flour, salt, egg, oil and warm water into a soft dough and knead it for 10 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic enough to stretch.

Rest it under a warm bowl for 30 minutes. This dough has to be pulled very thin and it will not go anywhere while it is tense.

Beat the curd with the eggs, sour cream, sugar and salt until smooth, then fold in the tarragon. Use it raw and use plenty; cooking dulls it.

Roll and then stretch the dough on a floured cloth until you can see the cloth through it. A rolling pin alone will not get you there - work from the middle outwards with the backs of your hands.

Spread the filling over it in an even layer, leaving a clear border of two fingers along the far edge so the seam can close.

Roll it up using the cloth to lift it, like a strudel, then wrap the whole log in a clean cotton cloth or muslin and tie both ends. The cloth is what stops it unravelling in the water.

Simmer it in a long pan of salted water for 35-40 minutes, gently. A hard boil will burst the roll even inside the cloth.

Unwrap it and let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing, or it tears. Cut into thick rounds.

Brown the breadcrumbs in the butter until they smell nutty and pour them over the slices. That is the traditional finish and it is not a garnish - the crumbs are half the texture.