Knodels and Pappardella- From Munich to Bolzano: Part 1

The plan was to write blog entries in the order of my recent trip to Europe: Munich, Salzburg, Ljublijana, Trieste and Bolzano.

Last week, on a overcast and stormy day I was inspired to try to recreate a healthy version of a rich Slovenian dessert, Pretmurska Gibanica that we enjoyed in Ljublijana. It is layered with fillings of apple, poppy seed, farmers cheese and walnuts. The rainy afternoon flew by as I researched recipes and then assembled and baked the delicacy. I’m happy to report there was success and am excited to share the recipe for the resulting dessert.

We were fortunate to discover the non-touristy, small beautiful Central European city of Ljublijana (pronounced “Loobliana”).

We drove from Salzburg to Slovenia; as we entered Ljublijana, we were met by stark Soviet era high rises devoid of any charm. Heading towards the center of the city, the architecture changed dramatically; the old narrow streets were charming with many streets for pedestrians only.

Our hotel, The Grand Hotel Union was just a few blocks from the center of the old city with lovely views of the town. Best of all, our room was upgraded to a huge suite with high windows at no extra cost!

The Ljublijana River flows through center of the old city with many small bridges.

One of most famous bridges is the Dragon Bridge, protected by fierce looking dragons on all sides.

The quaint streets were lined with cafes, restaurants, wine shops, bakeries and unusual specialty shops. One lovely shop sold liquors and brandies that were distilled in Croatia; the owner proudly showed us on a map the location of their family’s distillery.

Although there were not as many tourists as in Salzburg, there were still shops that specialized in “tchotchkes”- like this shop that sold only rubber ducks!

We had dinner at an excellent restaurant called JAZ that was recently opened by the three star Michelin chef Ana Roz. Tucked away on a hard to find side street, the restaurant was excellent- warm, welcoming and creative; a blend of Italian food with Slovenian and Central European influences.

We started with a glass of chilled Slovenian orange wine (white wine where the grape skins are not removed immediately) and a basket of crusty bread with herbed salted butter.

We shared several entrees, the first a dish of bread pasta (the server explained that the pasta is made from semolina and leftover breadcrumbs.)

The beautifully presented dish was constructed with a tarragon puree, red pepper sauce, poppy seed puree and fresh ricotta cheese. The server suggested stirring everything together before we dug in.

If you will excuse the musical metaphor, this was truly a contrapuntal texture of flavors; an intricate fugue of flavors perfectly intertwined!

The next course was a light and delicious dish of Vitello Tonnato, (tender thin slices of boiled veal with a tuna and anchovy sauce). The dish was adorned by olive oil, fresh oregano, herbs and fat flavorful capers.

Our last course was grilled fish nestled on a pea puree with local organic greens, fish roe and tiny pieces of sweet strawberry; beautiful as a still life painting.

Thankfully we had left a tiny bit of room for a show stopping Slovenian dessert; Kobarid Struklji, a traditional dumpling filled with ground walnuts, raisins and breadcrumbs, served with a buttery caramel sauce!

Before the trip, I had read about another traditional Slovenian dessert, a layered cake with poppy seed, apple, walnut and cheese. I asked our server about it and she told us we great pride that one must be certified to sell Prekmurska in stores. She kindly looked up a few places that sold it and wrote the names down for us on a slip of paper.

The next morning, we thought it would be fun to search out one of the bakeries that sold Prekmurska. We asked the clerk at the hotel desk for directions and he told us excitedly that they served the cake at the hotel and would we like to have a piece? We purchased a fat slice for a late morning picnic and set off for one more walk around the town before we headed off on our next destination to Trieste in Italy.

It was a hot day and we soon searched out a shady spot. We sat at the foot of a small fountain and took out our treat to share. It was cool and not too sweet- almost a second breakfast.

A group of tourists from Italy soon gathered next to the fountain and we listened to an Italian tour guide talk about the fountain. Although we did not understand a word, the happy sounds of the people in the group chattering in Italian made us excited for the next part of our trip in Italy!

Here is my recipe for Prekmurska Gibanica. I based it on a recipe that I found online from the Slovenian Kitchen blog. Their blog has the following description of the cake:

“Prekmurska gibanica originates from Prekmurje, which literally means ‘across the Mura river (region)’, and is the most renowned traditional Slovenian pastry. The name comes from güba, which in the dialect means a fold – implying that it is a type of cake that is folded.“

I wanted to make a cake that used only small amounts of coconut sugar, no cream and whole wheat flour in the pastry crust. I also added chopped golden raisons in the walnut layer. This is a project cake, but not too difficult. It makes a large cake, but it can be easily divided and frozen.

Prekmurska gibanica– Traditional Slovenian Layer Cake

1 package phyllo dough (completely defrosted)

Pastry Crust:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup whole grain spelt four

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter

3 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening (I like the organic Spectrum brand)

3 or more tablespoons ice water

Make the pastry crust:

In the bowl of a food processor combine flours, salt, coconut sugar, butter and shortening until just combined.

Add the ice water and vanilla and process until a ball shape forms. You may need to add more water a tablespoon at a time.

Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. When you want to make the cake, bring the dough back to room temperature.

Poppy Seed Layer

• 8 ounces poppy seeds
• 2 cups milk (you can also use almond milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons butter– I used Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar– you can use more, for a sweeter flavor).
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water

Walnut Layer

• 450 g ground walnuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup golden raisons (cut into small pieces if large)
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar

Farmer’s Cheese Layer

• 16 ounces farmer’s cheese (can be replaced by ricotta– if you use ricotta, make sure it is well drained).
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon

Apple Layer

• 4 apples
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• zest of 1 lemon

8 ounces low fat sour cream– I added 1/4 cup maple syrup and the zest from 1/2 lemon

Poppy Seed Layer

1. For the filling, place poppy seeds, sugar, milk and butter in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cook at medium heat, stirring occasionally until the poppy seeds are cooked and the mixture thickens slightly- this will take about 15 minutes. Add cornstarch slurry and cook until mixture thickens. It will thicken more as it cools.
2. Add vanilla extract.
3. Cover and place in fridge.

Walnut Layer

1. Grind walnuts in food processor- add cinnamon, coconut sugar and golden raisons.

Farmer’s Cheese Layer

1. Mix all the ingredients for the farmer’s cheese layer together.

Apple Layer

1. Core the apples, peel them, and grate them. I placed my apples in the food processor and pulsed them for a few seconds- very quick!! Mix the grated apples with cinnamon, and the zest of 1 lemon.

Make Prekmurska gibanica:

1. Once all the fillings, base dough and phyllo dough are ready, you can start building the gibanica.
2. First, butter a large rectangular baking pan.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry crust into a rectangular shape. Place the dough on the bottom of the baking pan.
4. On the top of the base dough, put one layer of phyllo pastry, spread sour cream over it, and another layer of phyllo dough.
5. Put half of the poppy seed filling on top of that.
6. The poppy seeds are then covered with another layer of phyllo dough, sour cream, and phyllo dough.
7. Over that spread half the farmer’s cheese filling.
8. The third filling is then walnuts, followed by apples. Each filling is covered with phyllo dough, sour cream, and another phyllo dough layer.
9. Repeat the procedure with the fillings in the same order and complete with a layer of phyllo dough, sour cream, and one final phyllo dough layer.
10. On top of the final phyllo dough layer, spread sour cream generously. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon.
11. Bake in a preheated oven at (355 Fahrenheit) for 1 hour. If top starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil until done. Let cool for 1 hour before serving.

ENJOY!!

AND: Here is the “Tree of the Week”!

HAPPY SUMMER!!