Struklji

Country Info | Food and Drinks | Recipes for Traditional Food in Slovenia | Struklji

"Struklji, see character set, pronounce as: shtrooclee

Struklji are a "multi-purpose" dish: they can be served as a side-dish with game or any dark meat with a heavy sauce, as an independent course (usually with a salad) or as a dessert (with a sweetened cream sauce or just dusted with sugar).

General principles

The dough is made either of "soft" (= very fine-grain) white flour or (this is more popular in Slovenia) with buckwheat flour.

Buckwheat dough:

Ingredients:

1 litre buckwheat flour
0.1 kg wheat ("white") flour
1 litre boiling water, slightly salted

Scald the buckwheat flour with boiling water, mixing with a wooden spoon; allow to cool just enough that you can knead the dough with your hands. Knead in the wheat flour and roll out the dough about 2-3 mm thick immediately; cut off any thicker or crooked edges and spread the filling (see further). Roll the dough and prepare for cooking (see further).

Wheat dough:

Ingredients:

0.5 kg "soft" wheat flour
2 eggs
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
warm water as needed
a pinch of salt

Mix the flour, eggs, oil, lemon juice, salt (with your hands!), adding enough warm water to form a thick, but pliable dough. Knead well until the dough is smooth. Form one or several "buns", oil the surfaces and allow the dough to rest for at least one hour on a surface dusted with flour.

Roll out the dough just to make it flat, then continue stretching it using the backs of your hands; the dough should be stretched to approximately 1 mm thick or less. Cut of the thick edges, spread with filling and prepare for cooking.

Some fillings:

Walnut: mix 1/2 litre freshly ground walnuts, 2 eggs, 0.25 l heavy or whipping cream, 3 Tbsp dry bread-crumbs, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, lemon zest (grate lemon peel) (if intended for dessert only, add 0.1 kg sugar)

Walnut and honey: mix 1/2 litre freshly ground walnuts, 2 eggs, 6 Tbsp honey, 0.08 kg softened butter, 3 Tbsp dry bread-crumbs, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, lemon zest;

Cottage cheese: mix 1 kg fresh, smooth, unsalted cottage cheese (pot cheese) with 2 eggs, 4 Tbsp whipping cream, 3 Tbsp dry bread-crumbs, 5 dag melted unsalted butter; for dessert only, add one cup rasins or sultanas, soaked in dark rum and 0.2 kg sugar;

Tarragon: mix 6 Tbsp freshly chopped tarragon, 10 dag softened unsalted butter, 1 egg, 10 dag sugar; or
8 Tbsp freshly chopped tarragon, 0.25 kg fresh unsalted cottage cheese, 2 egg-yolks, 0.25 litre whipping cream, 3 Tbsp dry bread-crumbs; if for dessert only, add 0.15 kg sugar.

Cooking

After spreading the filling on the dough, roll the dough tightly, making sure that there are no air pockets in the roll. Uncooked buckwheat roll should be about 5 cm thick, wheat up to 10 cm. Moisten a thin linen cloth, wringing out excess water; spread the cloth on a flat surface and dust lightly with dry bread-crumbs. Wrap the struklji tightly with the cloth and tie both ends -- the cloth should cover the struklji roll at least twice.

Bring 1 litre salted water to boil; drop the roll into boiling water and cook for 1/2 hour. Remove immediately, unwrap and cut into serving pieces. Brown some bread-crumbs on butter and pour over struklji; serve hot. If served as a dessert with cream sauce, serve the sauce separately. Guests should add sugar to taste. (Cream sauce: mix equal volumes of lightly whipped cream and sour cream, sugar lightly)

If you want to cook several rolls at a time, but wish to re-warm them, do not unwrap; freeze the struklji in their linen wrap, then re-warm by cooking in slightly salted water for 5-10 minutes.

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