Varenyky

What you put:

For dough:

• 5 kilo ‘Special White’ flour (Caputo Classica or any expensive Italian flour if you have)
• 2 big teaspoon salt
• 4 liter cold water (add slow)

For filling:

• 6 kilo washed white potato (washed, peeled, cut in half)
• 1 kilo full cream continental cheese (Tempo brand, red one is best. You find in European deli)
• 900 gram jar sauerkraut (From Poland best. Marco brand good one “some no good, different taste” )
• 4 brown onion chopped
• Hungarian paprika (heaped teaspoon) Give nice taste and colour
• Sunflower oil
• Salt

For serving:

• 1 kilo smoked bacon, Kaiser Fleisch, from deli (full rashers, you dice nice)
• Sour cream
• Extra onion for frying

How you do:

1. Start sauerkraut filling

Heat sunflower oil, fry 2 onion until see-through
Take sauerkraut, squeeze out liquid, chop rough
Add to onion, cook 30 minute on low heat
No need salt — sauerkraut already salty
”Start this first — takes long time.”

2. Make potato filling

While sauerkraut cook, bring big stockpot water to boil with generous salt (like pasta water)
Cut potato in half, boil with lid on until fork go through easy
Drain quick — don’t let sit in hot water or get soggy
Mash potato, separate into three bowls
Taste, add salt if need

3. Finish sauerkraut filling

Mix cooked sauerkraut into one bowl of mashed potato

4. Make onion filling

Fry onion in plenty sunflower oil on low heat long time until caramel colour
Add little salt, then add heaped teaspoon Hungarian paprika on low heat
Mix into second bowl mashed potato

5. Make cheese filling

Add 1 kilo continental cheese to third bowl of potato
Use hands to mix through
Make sure all bowls have enough salt. Always tast, taste, taste

6. Make dough

Put 5 kilo flour in huge bowl with 2 big teaspoon salt
Add 4 liter cold water slow while you mix with hands
”No play, work! Mix it. Mix it. Mix it. No be lazy.”
Until sticky texture
Leave 15 minute

7. Roll and cut dough

Flour big surface
Divide dough three parts
Knead until not sticky. But not hard dough. Has to be soft. Roll out one part at a time with rolling pin until dough nice and thin
”I get from broom” (about her rolling pin)
Use cup or glass 8cm round, cut circles from dough

8. Fill varenyky

Stretch circle dough very careful, not too thin, just widen little bit. Fill each circle with filling
Enough filling but not too much or hard to close varenyk and filling come out when boil
Seal edge complete
Put on tea towel, with flour so no stick to tea towe - until ready to boil

9. Cook varenyky

Bring big stockpot to rolling boil with plenty salt (2 heaped teaspoon)
Put varenyky gentle one by one so no splash
Drop different places so no land on top each other and stick together
Stir pot very gentle from bottom so no stick
Put lid on. Stir now and then. Gentle!
When all rise to surface “and start to boiling” and none at bottom, take out with slotted spoon to colander on big bowl
Then put cooked varenyky to big bowl, add little oil and very gentle toss so no stick together and look terrible

10. Prepare serving toppings

While varenyky cook, heat 3-5 spoon sunflower oil, fry onion
In other pan, little oil for bacon
Cook medium heat until brown, then low heat
When onion done, add little salt

How you serve:

“And you serve it with sour cream you know, and fry onion and fry bacon you know. That’s my daddy like very much. My brother Michael like sauerkraut varenyky and bacon on top”

Serve hot with fried bacon, sour cream and fried onion
We make around 300 varenyky! You give some to family and freeze some for later. You make and bring some for me one day when I in nursing home. Yes?

Baka tell you:

“Varenyky is traditional Ukrainian. Some people call ‘perohy or pierogi’ but this from Russia or Poland. Varenyky is from Ukraina!”.”

“Use Polish sauerkraut, some no good - different taste.”

“That’s you keep it - that’s you remember we make varenyky. That’s you keep it you take home.” (about the aprons)

“First time make varenyky all myslef be in 1951, I be 11 or 12. I make varenyky but I no do properly, and some, what do you call, open. I bring to my daddy who work in field, he start to cry, because he like very much. He say ‘I am lucky I got my daughter make for me’ I never forget this. I say ‘why you cry’ he say not because it no good, because I’m happy that you make for me varenyky.”

“This one I take home. Good for garden” (about potato peels)