top of page

Scones with cracklings - Pogačice sa čvarcima

Pogačice sa čvarcima (=scones with cracklings) is a MUST when you go to Balkan countries!! Even if not as famous as other appetizers like Gibanica or Proja, even if it's not as symbolic as Pljeskavica or Pita, it's one of our best traditional specialties.

Why you absolutely NEED to taste them, when you can? In my opinion, the combination of smooth dough and lard + salty cracklings is unique and - at the same time - a symbol of Balkan hedonism. From the first bite of the crispy crust, they will start melting in your mouth to give you a true culinary experience. Studying a bit on the net, I've discovered that they are made also in other countries such as Romania and Slovakia (pagàce), so try to find them everywhere, basicly :) But if you don't succeed in that, you can always prepare them yourself. Two things to say before the ingredient list: 1) Making this dish requires a bit of practice and solid baking skills, it's not a walk in a park. Sooooo if you've never made a bread before, I suggest you to start from the basics. Then you will feel more confident to make these gorgeous scones!!

2) In Italy it's not that easy to find cracklings, so I'm bringing each time I can a few kilos from Serbia. I guess that in some European countries you will have the same issue, in that case you can order them online and the problem is solved! :))

Now, the ingredients:

- 1 cube of fresh yeast

- a 1/2 tea spoon of sugar

- a pinch of salt

- 500g of cracklings

- a few spoons of lard=pig fat (not necessary, but it tastes better)

- 300ml of warm water

- 200ml of warm milk

- 800g of flour + plus other for kneading the dough

- 1 egg

- if you want you can sprinkle with a bit of sesame seeds

Preparation:

Put the warm milk in a bowl with sugar and the yeast, mix all nicely and let it sit for about 10 minutes. In another bowl put the flour, a pinch of salt and then add the yeast, stir all well, first with a spatula and then with your hands. The dough should not be sticky nor tough, on the contrary it must have soft, airy consistence.

Leave the dough covered with a cloth to rise until it double its size.

So far it's easy, but here comes the tricky part for the beginners.

Stretch the dough with a rolling pin on a smooth surface adding a bit more flour. It should be a 1cm thick. Then put the lard over the dough and minced cracklings, spread evenly to cover all of it. After that, fold the dough into a half, then fold it in the reverse direction again, and repeat the same for the 3rd time. Extend the filled dough once more until it is 2cm thick. Take a glass and make scones from the dough. Once you've made all the scones, coat them with the egg and put sesame seeds on the top, if you want. Leave the scones to rise for another 15 min while you're heating the oven and finally bake them on 250 degrees until they are golden and crispy. Enjoy!

 

Sigurno ćete se složiti sa mnom da su Pogačice sa čvarcima nezaobilazni kulinarski specijalitet koji se mora probati ako se boravi na prostoru Balkana!! Kladim se da stranci nikada nisu probali nešto tako dobro do sada! Kombinacija glatkog testa i masti + slani čvarci koji se tope u ustima i hrskava korica su istinsko hedonističko kulinarsko iskustvo. Postoje i druge zemlje poput Rumunije, Slovačke, gde prave nešto slično našim pogačicama sa čvarcima samo se drugačije zovu. Npr u Slovačkoj se zovu pagàče. :) Izrada ovog jela zahteva malo prakse i veštinu ruku! To nije šetnja u parku, tako da ako nikad do sada niste napravili prvi hleb moj vam je savet da počnete od osnove, pa onda kada se osjećate sigurnije napravite ove sjajne pogačice !!

Neophodni sastojci - 1 kocka svežeg kvasca - 1/2 kašičice šećera - prstohvat soli - 500 g čvaraka - nekoliko kašika masti * svinjska mast (nije neophodno, ali ukus je bolji) - 300 ml tople vode - 200 ml toplog mleka - 800 g brašna * plus još malo za izradu testa - 1 jaje - ako želite, možete posuti sa malo susama od gore

Priprema: Stavite toplo mleko u posudu sa šećerom i kvascem, sve lepo promešajte i pustite da narastei oko 10 minuta. U drugu posudu stavite brašno, prstohvat soli, a zatim dodajte kvasac, sve dobro promešajte, prvo sa varjačom a zatim rukama. Testo ne bi trebalo biti ljepljivo niti tvrdo * mora imati mekanu strukturu. Ostavite testo prekriveno krpom dok ne udvostruči veličinu. Do sada je sve bilo lako, ali ovde dolazi do nezgodnog dela za početnike. Posle toga istanjite testo oklagijom na glatkoj površini dodajući malo brašna po potrebi. Testo bi trebalo da bude debljine oko 1cm, a zatim ga premažite mašću pa rasporedite mlevene čvarke, ravnomerno ih raširiti da pokriju svo testo. Nakon toga preklopite testo na pola, zatim ga ponovo preklopite u suprotnom smeru i ponovite isti postupak po treći put. Napunjeno testo još jednom razvucite na debljinu od 2cm. Uzmite čašu i napravite pogačice. Nakon što ste napravili sve pogačice premažite ih jajetom i pospite susamom od gore. Ostavite pogačice da narastu još 15 minuta dok zagrejete rernu. Pecite ih na 250 stepeni sve dok ne dobiju rumenu boju i dobiju hrskavu koricu. Uživajte!

bottom of page