Following the horrific headlines of Russia’s war against Ukraine evokes many difficult emotions in all of us. It is even more heart breaking during the beautiful week of Масленица we just had. In his last blog, Ryan wrote a wonderful overview of this religious holiday before the season of Lent. Today, I continue our celebration of the Ukrainian culture and people through an exploration of traditional Ukrainian food prepared for Масленица — вареники!

Фото автора Kostiantyn Stupak: Pexels

Although my family is Kazakh, I grew up celebrating Масленица, and вареники это неотъемлемая часть моего детства¹vareniki are an integral part of my childhood! I hope you enjoy my mom’s recipe for вареники с картошкой²vareniki with potatoes.

All photos of vareniki and the cooking process are by author

Ingredients

• 3 стакана муки (1 стакан примерно 200 грамм) – about 600 grams of flour
• 1 яйцо – 1 egg
• 3 столовые ложки растительного масла – 3 Tbsp of vegetable oil
• Пол чайной ложки соли – ½ tsp of salt
• 1 неполный стакан кипятка (соль растворить в кипятке) – 1 glass of water, not full
• Картошка, 600 грамм – about 600 grams of potatoes

Instructions

Wash and peel the potatoes. Boil in salted water до готовност³until done. Mash the potatoes.

Let’s start making the dough. Моя мама любит готовить заварное тесто⁴my mom likes to make hot water dough, sometimes called scalded dough, because it doesn’t stick to your hands and you don’t have to add more flour later.

Просеять муку в большую миску, добавить яйцо и масло⁵Sift the flour in a large bowl, then add eggs and oil.  Mix salt with boiling water and slowly add to the flour mixture. Combine and knead the dough into a ball. Prepare the surface for making вареники by sprinkling a bit of flour. Оставить тесто под миской чтобы не засохло⁶Leave the dough under the bowl to prevent it from drying out.

You can make the circles for вареники many different ways. Некоторые раскатывают один большой круг из теста толщиной в 2-3 мм и вырезают кружочки стаканом⁷Some people roll out one big circle and cut out little circles using a glass. Our family prefers a different method that keeps the dough from drying out. To do that, divide the dough на равномерные части⁸into equal parts and roll out each part while the rest of the dough is covered. This makes it easier to cut little circles that you can roll out individually.

My favorite part

Fill each circle with your filling of choice – у нас было картошка пюре⁹we had mashed potatoes. Аккуратно слепляем края вареников чтобы получились полукруги и выкладываем наши вареники на пергаментную бумагу¹⁰Gently pinch the edges to make half circles and place our vareniki on parchment paper. Такие вареники очень удобно хранить в морозилке¹¹These are perfect for storing in the freezer.

To cook вареники you need to bring подсоленную воду до кипения¹²salted water to boiling and варить вареники 5-6 минут¹³boil them for 5-6 minutes.

Serve with butter. У нас в семье все любят вареники по–разному — кто–то просто с маслом, кто–то со сметаной и зеленью, а кто–то с тертым сыром и перцем¹⁴Everyone in our family loves vareniki with different toppings – some prefer just the butter, some like sour cream and herbs, and others love shredded cheese and black pepper.

The most important thing is that this delicious Ukrainian dish always brings the family together!

С Масленицей! Happy Maslenitsa!

And as always: НЕТ ВОЙНЕ! NO TO WAR!

• 1
  vareniki are an integral part of my childhood
• 2
  vareniki with potatoes
• 3
  until done
• 4
  my mom likes to make hot water dough, sometimes called scalded dough
• 5
  Sift the flour in a large bowl, then add eggs and oil
• 6
  Leave the dough under the bowl to prevent it from drying out
• 7
  Some people roll out one big circle and cut out little circles using a glass
• 8
  into equal parts
• 9
  we had mashed potatoes
• 10
  Gently pinch the edges to make half circles and place our vareniki on parchment paper
• 11
  These are perfect for storing in the freezer
• 12
  salted water to boiling
• 13
  boil them for 5-6 minutes
• 14
  Everyone in our family loves vareniki with different toppings – some prefer just the butter, some like sour cream and herbs, and others love shredded cheese and black pepper