Pečeni štrukli / Traditional Croatian baked strukli

 Please scroll down for English

Za baku.
Za nju me veže mnogo lijepih uspomena, kad bolje razmislim-za nju me vežu samo lijepe uspomene. Jedna od anegdota koju najjasnije pamtim: kao mala uvijek sam fantazirala s jelom, nisam mnogo jela, bila sam sitna i mršava, od jela nisam voljela gotovo ništa. Vrijeme koje su moji roditelji proveli na poslu ja sam provodila kod svoje bake, dakle pola dana, svaki dan osim vikendom. Kad bih se igrala ispred zgrade, ona je, uz to što je pazila na mene, hodala zamnom sa sendvičem u ruci kojeg je ranije pripremila, otkidala po komadić i hranila me. Ja sam slađe jela kroz igru. Danas kad se toga sjetim, koliko god mi priča bila simpatična, toliko sam svjesna da sam bila jako komplicirano dijete po tom pitanju.
Sve što je imala, davala je i ostavila nama, jer smo bili njezin svijet i smisao. Od utorka je više nema. Posljednjih nekoliko dana (zapravo, posljednja godina dana) bili su teški. Sutra je rođendan bloga, ali nisam sigurna da ću stići išta napraviti, jer smo između ostalog u procesu uređenja jedne sobe. Pripremila sam jedno darivanje koje će na red doći nešto kasnije, kad se situacija smiri i kad uhvatim vremena.
Jedna od stvari koje je baka najradije pripremala i koje sam s guštom gledala, onako mala navirujući iznad stola, lica i ručica uprljanih brašnom, bile su štrukle. Štrukli, štrukle, štruklji...kako kod koga. Štrukle smo oduvijek obožavali, ali tek odnedavno počeli jesti na način da ih zapečemo u pećnici. Baka nije imala precizno određen recept, radila ih je odoka, a ja sam recept uzela iz jedne lijepe knjige-Hrvatska za stolom, sa našim starim, tradicionalnim receptima. Ovo je ujedno prvi put da sam sama radila ovakvo tijesto, jer ga za štrudle uvijek kupujem. Nisam ga razvukla pre(pre)tanko, mislim da ipak nije potrebno toliko inzistirati na jako tankom tijestu kad su štrukle u pitanju. Barem što se mene tiče. Njihova izrada je svojevrsni homage baki, da me barem mogla vidjeti. Posljednji put kad ih je radila prije otprilke pola godine bila sam prisutna, znala sam da ih tada radi zadnji put u životu, i rekla joj kako odavdje ja preuzimam i kako ću ih valjda napokon uskoro napraviti sama.
Evo i jednog simpatičnog videa o izradi štrukli.

Tijesto:

• 50 dag mekog brašna
• 1 jaje
• 2 žlice ulja
• sol
• 1 žlica blagog octa (koristila sam jabučni)
• malo mlake vode

Nadjev:

• 10 dag maslaca, omekšalog + 2 žlice
• 60 dag svježeg sira
• 4 jaja
• 1 dcl kiselog vrhnja
• sol, papar

Preljev:

• kiselo vrhnje
• naribani tvrdi sir
• nekoliko listića maslaca 
• po želji malo soli

1. Zamijesite tijesto: Prosijte brašno (ja ga nisam prosijala) pomiješano sa solju na radnu površinu i u sredini napravite udubinu. U nju stavite jaje, ulje pa postupno vilicom pomiješajte s brašnom. Mlaku vodu pomiješajte s octom i tu mješavinu dolijevajte postepeno dok ne umijesite tijesto. Izradite ga rukama dok ne postane sasvim glatko. Podijelite ga na tri kruščića, svaki premažite uljem, pokrijte ih lagano ugrijanom posudom i ostavite da odstoje pola sata. Za to vrijeme pripremite nadjev.
2. Nadjev: omekšali maslac pjenasto umutite sa protisnutim sirom, jajima i malo soli i papra. Na kraju dodajte kiselo vrhnje.
3. Na stol rasprostrite čisti stolnjak i posipajte ga brašnom. Tijesto razvaljajte valjkom koliko ide, a zatim ga rukama razvlačite da postane tanko. Ne morate kod štrukla previše inzistirati na suviše tankom tijestu. Debele krajeve odrežite i ostavite tijesto da se malo prosuši. Zatim ga poprskajte sa 2 žlice rastopljenog maslaca (Ovdje možete koristiti ulje). Postupak ponovite i sa ostalim kruščićima tijesta (imamo 3 komada). Tako pripremljeo tijesto premažite nadjevom, kojeg namažete do pola. Nadjev si podijelite na tri podjednaka dijela. 

             Step by step: make the dough, let it rest, roll out/ stretch out finely, brush with filling 

Zatim zarolajte tijesto pomoću stolnjaka. Dlanovima utisnite štrukle pa svaki utisnuti rub prerežite tanjurom. Na taj će način rubovi ostati slijepljeni, kako nadjev ne bi iscurio. Moji rubovi nisu bili baš savršeno slijepljeni, ali to nije bilo od presudne važnosti zbog pečenja štrukli. Kada ih kuhate, tada je bitno da vam nadjev ne iscuri i da su rubovi zatvoreni kako treba. Ovako pripremljene štrukle možete kuhati u kipućoj slanoj vodi 15-20 min, a možete ih zapeći. Ja više volim pečenu varijantu.

            Step by step: roll in using tablecloth, divide with palms into equal pieces, cut with a plate

4. Štrukle poslažite u namašteni pleh ili vatrostalnu posudu jednu do druge pa poslažite po njima listiće maslaca. Prelijte kiselim vrhnjem kojeg ste po ukusu posolili (ja sam dodala i malo papra). Na kraju posipajte ribanim tvrdim sirom (mislim da se sir u originalnoj tradicionalnoj varijanti ne upotrebljava, ali meni je ukusnije) i zapecite na 200 C 30-40 min, dok ne dobiju lijepu zlatnu boju. Poslužite toplo.

                                                  Traditional Croatian baked strukli

 A couple of days ago, my grandma passed away. It was a very tough one year battle with cancer. She was extraordinary woman who raised me and my brother (when my parents worked, we spent time with her, we never went to kindergarten). She lived next to our apartment for our whole lives and we were very close. She didn't have an easy life, but when I and later my brother were born, we became the meaning and purpose of her life. She dedicated and left everything to us and I have never met someone like her.
I started writing this post and felt like I needed to mention her, since her passing away is the reason why I made strukli for the first time in my life. I felt like I needed to say a few words about her, because of how great she was, because of her wonderful spirit and dedication, I felt like I wanted you to know about her. I don't want to go into details, these few words are enough for the blog. The rest was said among family and friends.
She made strukli for the last time about 6 month ago. She was exhausted and I knew it was her last time making them. I was with her and said that I am the one who will make the next batch of strukli and that I finally decided to try (the stretching of this dough is almost art, although it proved to be easier than I thought). If only she could see me making them.

Strukli (also called Zagorje strukli, because the dish originates from the Zagorje region of Croatia) is a traditional Croatian dish. They are a Croatian brand and an example of how simplicity can be attractive. There are 2 types of strukli: boiled and baked. I like them baked. I add a bit of grated cheese on top (although it's not used in the traditional recipe).
Strukli are made of only a few ingredients. Ingredient that is most important is fresh cottage cheese: it has a fresh, slightly acidic taste and a refined taste of milk that is only really began to ferment.
You can take a look at this lovely video of how the traditional strukli are prepared by an expert (it's not in English, but the preparation is really interesting and helpful).
Above are my step by step photos and here is the recipe:

For the dough

• 500 g all purpose flour
• salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar 
• some lukewarm water (about 100 ml)

For the filling

• 600 g fresh cottage cheese
• 100 g butter, softened + 2 tbsp
• 4 eggs
• 100 ml sour cream
• salt
• pepper

Topping:

• sour cream
• grated cheese
• salt
• some butter

1. Make the dough: this is the traditional way, but you can make it with your stand mixer too: Sift flour combined with some salt (about 1 tsp) onto clean working surface and make indentation in the middle. Put one egg into that indentation, add oil and combine all ingredients using fork. Mix some lukewarm water with vinegar and gradually add to the dough, until it all comes together. Knead the dough with hands until it's smooth-it should be smooth and elastic, not too soft and sticky. Divide dough into three equal parts, brush each with oil and cover with warm pot. Leave for 30 minutes.
2. While the dough rests, prepare the filling: Mix softened butter with fresh cottage cheese, add eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper.
3. Take a clean tablecloth and dust with some flour. Put 1 part of the dough onto it, roll out with rolling pin until thin and then begin stretching it with your palms. Be gentle and patient, stretch it from the middle. Don't stress out if it breaks :) The dough should be thin, but for strukli you don't need to make it too thin (like when making strudel). Cut out thick edges. It's good to leave the dough for 15 minutes to dry slightly, but you can skip this step if you're in a hurry. Then sprinkle it with some melted butter. Brush the filling over the dough-brush only half of the dough. Roll it, using tablecloth-take a look at the video in the link above for this. Using your hands, separate the dough into equal parts and cut them with a plate. We do this instead of using knife in order to firmly seal the edges and ensure the filling doesn't pour out of strukli.
4. Take a baking pan, brush it with some butter and assemble strukli in it.
5. Preheat oven to 200 C.
6. Make the topping: combine sour cream with some salt and pour it over strukli. Place a couple of cubes of butter on top and finish with some grated cheese. Bake for about 40 minutes, until nicely golden. Let cool slightly and serve warm.