Eastern European Recipes
101 recipes found
Zrazy Zawijane (Stuffed rolls of beef)
Struklji
Vampi
Gelfite Fish With Almonds
Instant Pot Mushroom and Potato Paprikash
An electric pressure cooker is the very best appliance to use when you want deep, long-simmered flavor in very little time. Here, it’s used to make quick work of this comforting, cold-weather stew, a vegetarian adaptation of the classic Hungarian dish chicken paprikash. This version is not at all traditional, though it has mushrooms, which are common in Hungarian cooking. Avoid washing your mushrooms, which makes them less likely to sear. Instead, wipe off any dirt with a damp cloth. Meaty trumpet mushrooms add a wonderful texture to the stew, but you can use any mushrooms you like, including all-purpose creminis. This recipe can also be prepared on the stovetop. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Haluski (Buttery Cabbage and Noodles)
If you ask 100 people about haluski, there will be many different answers — and some might know it by another name. Simple to prepare, economical and more than the sum of its parts, haluski typically refers to a Central and Eastern European dish of sweet, buttery cabbage and onions tossed with dumplings or noodles. In the United States, haluski is often made with store-bought egg noodles, which are more convenient but no less lovable than homemade. The strands of caramelized cabbage become happily tangled in the noodle’s twirls. This version includes a final step of tossing the cooked cabbage and pasta with some pasta water and a final pat of butter, so each bite is as comforting as can be.
Fried Small Peppers Filled With Feta and Quinoa
The starting off point for this recipe is a classic Balkan cheese-stuffed pepper dish that I enjoyed frequently over the course of a long ago summer spent in Croatia. The peppers that are traditionally used for this are small, thin-skinned green peppers that taper to a single tip. These aren’t easy to find locally, but I have recently found “baby bell peppers” that are the perfect size for this. I also make these stuffed peppers with Anaheims, which are spicy. The authentic filling is made with feta, herbs and egg only, but I decided to introduce some quinoa or bulgur to stretch the filling and make the peppers more substantial.
My Favorite Challah
The word challah originally meant only the small portion of dough that was put in the oven when baking bread as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. It has evolved into the twisted, sweet, almost brioche-like bread that was brought to America by immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. Although straight loaves of braided challah are eaten throughout the year, round challahs, often studded with raisins, are served for Rosh Hashana, and also for Yom Kippur and Sukkot, the holidays celebrating the New Year and the fall harvest. Throughout the years, I have picked up tips from challah bakers throughout this country and in Europe and Israel. For example: Several risings make a better loaf, and if you want an especially brioche-like texture, let the dough rise slowly in the refrigerator for one of the three risings. The secret to a glossy loaf is to brush with an egg wash twice, once just after braiding and then again just before baking.
Bulgarian Cucumber Soup With Walnuts
Walnuts are used in sweet and savory dishes throughout the Mediterranean. Along the Italian Riviera, a rich ricotta and walnut sauce traditionally is served with ravioli filled with greens. In Turkey, a thick, garlicky walnut sauce called tarator is served with cooked vegetables, much as aïoli is in the South of France. In France, walnuts are added to salads, breads and many desserts, and they are eaten fresh as well as dried — a great delicacy in the fall, just after the harvest. I’ve never encountered creamy, fresh walnuts in American farmers’ markets, but if you know a walnut farmer, perhaps you could request some the next time they’re harvested. Before the weather becomes too chilly for cold soups, try this one. Bulgaria once was well known for the number of centenarians in its population, which some scientists attributed to the daily consumption of Bulgarian yogurt. Now, both the yogurt and eating culture in this mountainous country have changed for the worse, and so have local lifespans.
Mushroom and Beet Borscht
This lighter, vegetarian version of hot borscht has the depth of flavor that a meaty backdrop provides, without overpowering the winelike, heady flavor of the beets.
Ryazhanka (Fermented Caramelized Milk)
Ryazhanka, a classic Ukrainian drink, is cool, tangy and lightly sweet, like yogurt with a touch of dulce de leche. This recipe comes from Olga Koutseridi, who spent her childhood summers in Mariupol, Ukraine, where vendors sold chilled ryazhanka that she’d guzzle after a day at the beach. The slight caramel flavor comes from slowly baking whole milk, which can be done in the oven or a slow cooker, before mixing it with a fermented starter like sour cream or kefir.
Polish Cottage Cheese Dip (Gzik)
This is a simple dip with infinite possibilities. The classic version, called gzik, comes from the Wielkopolska province in Poland. It’s built from a farmer’s cheese called twarog, which is essentially a dry version of what Americans know as cottage cheese. The cheese, which comes molded into a thick disc, is mashed with a fork, then loosened with a few tablespoons (or more, depending on the dryness of the cheese) of yogurt or cream. Radishes and some members of the allium family, most often chives or onions, add flavor; dill or other herbs sometimes make an appearance. The classic way to eat it is on boiled or baked potatoes still in their jackets, but gzik on buttered rye bread is a popular breakfast dish. Although you can use any style of cottage cheese for this recipe, smaller curds work better than large because the dip should be slightly smoother than cottage cheese.
Polish Hunter’s Choucroute (Bigos)
Alex Witchel brought this recipe to The Times in 2008. Bigos is the sauerkraut stew that many consider the national dish of Poland. The author Louis Begley calls it Polish choucroute. With a pot of coarse grain mustard on the side and boiled potatoes topped with dill, the overall effect is a grown-up’s version of a child’s dinner party.
Salmon With Potatoes and Horseradish-Tarragon Sauce
Adapted from an 18th-century recipe by George Lang for his 1971 cookbook, “The Cuisine of Hungary,” this recipe layers roast potatoes with just-tender baked salmon and a fresh swipe of horseradish sauce. You could substitute the potatoes with carrots, beets or other root vegetables, or you could play around with more tender vegetables like zucchini or fennel, though you’d need to slice them more thickly and reduce the cook time in Step 1. Likewise, halibut, cod or another white fish can be used instead of salmon. The bright horseradish sauce keeps the salmon moist and gives this dish verve, pairing horseradish’s peppery punch with tangy sour cream and fresh herbs.
Mushroom and Potato Paprikash
This recipe is a vegetarian adaptation of chicken paprikash, a classic dish in Hungary, where there are many regional and cultural variations. This version is not at all traditional, though mushrooms are common in Hungarian cooking. To make this dish doable on a weeknight, par-cook the potatoes while you’re searing the mushrooms. If time is not an issue, you can skip that step, but it will increase the lid-on cooking time to about 30 minutes in Step 2. Avoid washing your mushrooms, which makes them less likely to sear. Instead, wipe off any dirt with a damp cloth. Meaty trumpet mushrooms add a wonderful texture in the stew, but you can use any mushrooms you like, including all-purpose creminis. This recipe can also be made in an Instant Pot. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Mashed Potato and Cabbage Pancakes
Vegetable pancakes with a sweet and comforting flavor. These have a sweet, comforting flavor. They are quick to mix up, using either leftover mashed potatoes from your Thanksgiving dinner, or potatoes that you have cut up and steamed for 20 minutes.
Red Bean Stew
Hungarian gulyas (goulash) is the inspiration here, but this one is a vegetable dish. It has a deep, rich flavor redolent of paprika, garlic, lots of sweet peppers and onions. I like to serve this with noodles, or over thick slices of country bread. Note that soaking the beans is not absolutely necessary, but I find that they cook more evenly and have a more uniform, pillowy texture if I do.
Khachapuri Adjaruli (Georgian Cheese Bread Boat)
There are many different styles of khachapuri, the signature stuffed cheese bread of Georgia, but most are made by wrapping a pile of cheese in a round of dough, then baking until the cheese is molten. The most famous khachapuri is from Adjara, a region of Georgia on the Black Sea. It’s an open-faced, boat-shaped loaf that’s often served with an egg yolk and a slice of butter to stir in at the table. Traditionally, tangy imeruli and sulguni cheeses are used, but they are difficult to find in the U.S. This recipe, which is adapted from “Georgian Khachapuri and Filled Breads” by Carla Capalbo (Pallas Athene Publishers, 2018), uses a blend of mozzarella, feta and goat cheese.
Potato Nik
After living in what must have seemed like every neighborhood in three boroughs, my mother’s parents, in their old-ish age, settled in Astoria, which is where I spent almost all the Thanksgivings of my childhood. Thanksgiving was always (in my memory) gray and blustery, and my grandmother’s kitchen, steamy. She produced, almost solo, the traditionally ridiculous abundance of food, including my favorite, the potato “nik,” a huge latke fried in chicken fat until really brown, and as crisp as perfectly done shoestring fries. I still make this, and so can you.
Goulash and Spatzle
Balkan Burgers
Called pljeskavica, pronounced PLYESS-ka-vee-tsa, this burger as wide as a birthday cake is beloved in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro; and more recently in Italy, Germany, Chicago as well as Queens.
Georgian Plum Sauce (Tkemali)
Oven Rice