Meat Varenyky
Varenyky are filled with cooked meat, not raw mince, and that is not tradition for its own sake. Raw mince shrinks as it boils and pulls away from the dough, leaving a hollow. Cooked meat has already shrunk, so it keeps its volume, and spoonfuls of broth put the juiciness back.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 1 h 40 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 h 55 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 410 kcal
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
To serve
Makes: about 50 varenyky
Shopping list
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Method
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Step 1: Simmer the beef
Cover the beef with cold water, bring to the boil, skim, add the bay leaf and simmer gently for 90 minutes until completely tender.
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Step 2: Make the dough
While the meat cooks, scald the flour and salt with hot water, add the oil and knead smooth as in the basic recipe. Rest 30 minutes.
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Step 3: Fry the onion
Melt the butter and cook the chopped onion for 10 minutes to a deep gold; it supplies most of the filling's sweetness.
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Step 4: Mince the meat
Cool the beef and put it through the mincer together with the onion. Minced meat keeps its texture; a blender turns it into paste.
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Step 5: Give the juice back
Work in the hot broth a spoonful at a time until the filling stops crumbling and rolls into a ball. Season generously.
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Step 6: Shape
Roll the dough to 2 mm, cut 8 cm rounds and add a heaped teaspoon of cold filling. Crimp the edge twice.
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Step 7: Boil
Cook in batches of 12 in salted boiling water. Four minutes after they float is enough — only the dough needs cooking.
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Step 8: Serve
Fry the remaining onion in butter, toss it through the hot varenyky and serve with sour cream.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Do not throw out the cooking broth: drop a few varenyky into it and serve them as a soup, and freeze the rest for sauces.
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Variation
Two parts beef to one part pork gives a richer, softer filling — useful when the beef is very lean.
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Tip
Taste the filling cold. Warm filling always seems saltier than it is, and you will end up under-seasoning.
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Storage
Freeze raw varenyky on a board for up to three months. Boiled ones are excellent the next day fried in butter until crisp.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 410 kcal | 2,460 kcal |
| Protein | 22 g | 132 g |
| Fat | 15 g | 90 g |
| Carbohydrates | 46 g | 276 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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