I made the basic dough in the breadmaker and immediately noticed how rich it was - milk instead of water, 75ml of sunflower oil and an egg. That is before we get to the amazing and unusual cooking method.
Making the little rolls was slightly more fiddly. The dough had a great texture and was very easy to work with. I split it into 5 pieces (as per the instruction) and then rolled each piece out into a circle which I cut into 8 triangles. It was a very good way of getting roughly equal triangle and made so much easier when I decided to make the cuts with my pizza wheel!
Each triangle was filled with about a tsp of crumbled feta. Cottage cheese was recommended by Maja but as soon as I saw her note to make sure it was well salted I just decided to use feta instead and this was a very good move.
I was surprised that no rising time was given for the rolls after they had been made but since I couldn't cool them straight away anyway they did get a rise of an hour or so in a cold house - temperatures in the UK have suddenly plummeted to around 0 degrees which is very cold for November.
To finish them off I took the route of putting optional sesame seeds on top. I am very pleased I did that and would happily have used poppy seeds as well.
This is the finished picture of about 1/2 the final amount.
The recipe made 40 which was a fairly large amount. I was visiting friends on the day I made it and so shared the rolls with them as J and I would never have got through them on our own. They tasted stunning and I would definitely make them again - probably for a special party or other occasion.
The full recipe by Maja is below including the unusual (and so very tasty) cooking method. Do check it out...
Dough:
500 g all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp instant yeast or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)
1 tsp sugar
250 ml milk
75 ml sunflower oil
1 egg
Filling:
200-250 g cottage cheese (you may use feta or other fresh cheese)
1 egg white (optional)
And more:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
100 g margarine
Directions:
1. Crush the cheese using a fork. Add some salt if it tastes neutral. Stir the egg white in, if the cheese is too crumbly. Filling shouldn't be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than the cream cheese, and pretty salty.
2. For the starter - dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup, add a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of flour, stir to get smooth batter. Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.
3. Sift the flour, add salt. Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk, then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough. The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don't worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken. It is not necessary to knead the dough by hands, the wooden spoon works just fine (you may use any spoon, of course, the wooden spoon is common tool for all stirring and kneading works here at the Balkans). Grease the cling film with oil, cover the bowl, and set aside for at least an hour, at lukewarm place, to let the dough doubles in size.
4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls. Each part should make 8 rolls, so you'll end up with 40 rolls, which should perfectly fit the regular oven pan, if lined in 5x8 order. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury working surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out in a circle, a few millimeters thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles. Take one triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently. Put some filling at the triangle base, then fold the edges of the base as shown at pic2, to avoid the filling leak out during baking. Roll. Arrange the rolls at the pan (5x8).
5. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of milk, then brush the top of each roll with the mixture. This is used to prevent forming thick crust, and to improve the color of baked rolls. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, if you like.
6. Arrange the small peaces of margarine between the rolls, then bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes. Be careful not to overbake them. Let them cool a bit, be careful as the filling is always more hot then the dough, take a seat in your favorite armchair, and start enjoying the softest cheese rolls ever. And don't think of calories, please :)
