Fluffy Syrniki with Semolina and Apple: Easy Recipe
Homemade syrniki with semolina are a variation of a well-known dish that many people don't just like, they adore. Some say this dish should contain nothing but cottage cheese and eggs. That's possible, but it comes with certain difficulties. Adding semolina lets you make the dish quickly and well, without worrying that the patties will fall apart in the pan.
These are small pancakes fried in oil, made from a special dough with a high proportion of cottage cheese, bound with eggs and flour, and often semolina. Traditionally they are made in Slavic countries, where the way they are cooked often resembles a ritual. Sometimes they are baked instead of fried, but that takes a bit more effort and time.
Various fillings are sometimes added to the cottage cheese. Usually it's a vegetable or fruit mass, mashed or finely grated: bananas, carrots, plums, even strawberries, or different herbs. The easiest option is syrniki with apple, which are affordable and can be made all year round. Raisins improve both the taste and the look of traditional syrniki, vanilla is simply indispensable for the aroma, and citrus zest is added to tone down the taste and smell of egg yolk.
The name of the dish comes from “syr”, the common name for this fermented dairy product. That said, they are just as often called “tvorozhniki”. In Western countries whole pies or desserts called cheesecake are popular, and they are quite close to the pancakes we are used to. The cheese filling can be spread over a dough base to make an excellent pie or dessert.
It's very important that the cottage cheese is as dense and “dry” as possible, so you won't have to add too much flour to the dough. And, of course, it's better to use a quality product, homemade or from the market, rather than a “cheese product”.
The quality of the cottage cheese largely decides whether your syrniki turn out soft and tasty or more like fritters that taste of dough. To improve the flavor, I added a finely chopped sweet and sour apple, vanilla, and lemon and orange zest to the cottage cheese. In Italy similar pancakes are made from ricotta with spinach.
Ingredients
10-12 pcs
- Cottage cheese 400 g
- Large apple 1
- Eggs 1-2
- Semolina 1-2 tbsp
- Sugar 2 tbsp
- Flour, olive oil for frying
- Vanilla, lemon and orange zest to taste
- Powdered sugar, jam, fruit, sour cream for serving
Step-by-step recipe
- Homemade cottage cheese can be coarse-grained or even come in large lumps. In that case, mash it very thoroughly with a fork until smooth. Grate the lemon and orange zest: it does a great job of removing the taste and smell of egg yolk. Otherwise your syrniki with semolina will taste like an omelet. A sour or sweet and sour apple works best, as it brings out the flavor of the dish.
- In a deep bowl, mix the cottage cheese with the sugar; you only need a little. Add vanilla: concentrated, vanilla sugar or crystals. Add the eggs. If the cottage cheese is dry, one egg is enough, but you can use two, as they hold the cheese together during frying. Add the zest; 1 tbsp will be enough. Peel the apple and chop it finely. Grating it would release a lot of juice, which is not what you want. Mix everything thoroughly, mashing it with a fork.
- Add the semolina, 1 tbsp to start with. Semolina is coarsely ground wheat with grains of about 0.5 mm. Essentially it's a “coarse” flour made from durum wheat, similar to Italian semola di grano duro, although the local product often behaves quite differently. Mash the cottage cheese, and if the mixture is still a little moist, add more semolina.
- The cottage cheese dough should be as soft as possible. Next, place it on a table or board and dust it with flour. Actually, if the semolina is good quality and not too coarse, you can use it instead. It doesn't really matter: both flour and “fine” semolina give a lovely golden crust.
- Shape the dough into a log 5-6 cm in diameter, then cut it into pieces. Make as many pieces as will fit in the pan at once. We make our syrniki with apple and semolina quite thick, so you get 10-12 of them. Even out the pieces into thick “pucks” and dust them with more flour.
- Heat 2-3 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. It gives the syrniki a very pleasant aroma that you can't get with sunflower oil, and butter isn't always a good idea. The pan should be very hot. Place the syrniki in the hot oil.
- Fry the cottage cheese syrniki over medium heat with the lid on until the underside is golden. Then turn them over and keep frying with the lid on. Lower the heat a little and let the dough cook through inside. The apples should also soften a bit.
- Put the syrniki on a plate, add jam and sour cream, and dust with powdered sugar. I recommend adding fresh fruit: kiwi, banana, tangerine segments.
| Yield: | 10-12 pcs |
| Calories: | 170 |
| Prep: | 30 mins |
| Cooking: | 30 mins |
| Ready in: | 1 h |
| Category: | Pancakes |
| Cuisine: | European |
| Rating: |
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4.6
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