Cabbage Vareniky
Cabbage for vareniky has to be more than braised — it has to be cooked dry. A wet filling still holds juice, that juice turns to steam in the pot and splits the dough from the inside. So the last ten minutes happen with the lid off, and nothing is ever wrapped while warm.
- Prep
- 55 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 h 5 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 340 kcal
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
To serve
Makes: about 55 vareniky
Shopping list
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Method
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Step 1: Make the dough
Scald the sifted flour and salt with hot water, add the oil and knead to a smooth elastic dough, as in our vareniky dough recipe. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
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Step 2: Shred the cabbage
Cut the cabbage into the finest possible shreds. Coarse pieces never soften enough and their sharp edges pierce the dough.
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Step 3: Start the filling
Cook the onion and grated carrot in the oil for 8 minutes, then add the cabbage and fry over high heat for 5 minutes, stirring.
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Step 4: Braise until soft
Add the tomato paste, bay, salt and pepper, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the cabbage has lost its crunch entirely.
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Step 5: Drive off the moisture
Take the lid off and fry for another 10 minutes, until no liquid is left in the pan and the filling begins to colour. Cool it completely.
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Step 6: Shape the vareniky
Roll the dough to 2 mm and cut 8 cm rounds. Add a heaped teaspoon of filling and seal the edge firmly, going round twice.
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Step 7: Boil in batches
Drop 12 at a time into a large pot of salted boiling water and nudge them off the bottom. Once they float, cook for 3 minutes.
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Step 8: Fry the onion
While they cook, fry the onion in oil to a deep gold and toss it through the hot vareniky straight away.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Always cool the filling. Warm cabbage softens the dough from inside and the seam opens in the pot.
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Variation
For a sharper flavour replace a third of the fresh cabbage with rinsed, squeezed sauerkraut and braise them together.
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Tip
Season the filling more boldly than feels right: the salted water pulls some of the flavour out through the dough.
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Storage
Freeze them raw in a single layer on a board, then bag them — up to three months. Cook from frozen, 2 minutes longer.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 340 kcal | 2,040 kcal |
| Protein | 8 g | 48 g |
| Fat | 10 g | 60 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g | 324 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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