Zagorski Štrukli

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 egg
• 150 ml warm water
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 500 g fresh cottage cheese or dry curd cheese
• 2 eggs, for the filling
• 150 ml sour cream, for the filling
• 0.75 tsp salt, for the filling
• 400 ml double cream
• 100 ml sour cream, for the topping
• 40 g butter, melted
• 1 egg yolk

Before you cook

• Tip the flour and half teaspoon of salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
• Crack the whole egg into the well and add the oil and vinegar.
• Pour in the warm water and bring everything together with your hands into a shaggy dough.
• Knead the dough on the worktop for 10 minutes, until it is smooth, soft and springs back when pressed.
• Rub the ball of dough with a little oil, cover it with a warm upturned bowl and leave it to rest for 30 minutes.
• Press the cottage cheese through a sieve into a bowl to break up any lumps.
• Beat in the two filling eggs, the 150 ml of sour cream and three quarters of a teaspoon of salt until creamy.
• Spread a clean cotton tablecloth over the table and dust it lightly with flour.

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 200C and butter a large baking dish.
2. Set the rested dough in the middle of the floured cloth and roll it out to a rough rectangle.
3. Slide the backs of your floured hands under the dough and stretch it outwards from the centre, working your way around the table.
4. Keep stretching until the dough covers the table and you can read print through it.
5. Trim off the thick edges with scissors and discard them.
6. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter.
7. Spoon the cheese filling over the sheet and spread it out with a palette knife, leaving a hand's width bare along the far edge.
8. Lift the cloth at the near edge and let the dough roll itself over the filling into a long loose cylinder.
9. Press the seam gently to seal it.
10. Cut the roll into ten centimetre lengths with the side of your hand or a blunt knife, pressing down firmly to seal each cut end.
11. Lay the pieces in the buttered dish, seam side down, leaving a small gap between them.
12. Stir the double cream and the 100 ml of sour cream together with the egg yolk.
13. Pour this over the štrukli so they are half submerged.
14. Bake for 40 minutes, until the tops are golden and the cream is bubbling at the edges.
15. Take the dish out and let it settle for 10 minutes so the cream thickens around the pastry.
16. Serve two pieces per person with plenty of the baked cream spooned over.