Traditional bryndzové halušky made from homemade egg dough, fried in fat rendered from homemade bacon. The creamy bryndza (soft sheep cheese) sauce is only warmed, never boiled. It’s served with crispy cracklings, slowly caramelized onion, a spoonful of fresh bryndza and chives. A hearty dish of Slovak cuisine.
- Category
- main course
- Portion
- 350 g
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Nature (TCM)
- warming
TCM: The hearty dough, bacon and bryndza are warming and provide energy.
Ingredients
Halušky (dumplings)
- Organic wheat flour T405 – 1,000 g
- Water – 520–560 ml
- Eggs – 4 (about 200 g)
- Salt – 18 g
Bryndza sauce
- 100% sheep bryndza (soft sheep cheese) – 500 g
- Sour cream 16% – 400 g
- Cornstarch – 20 g
- Whole cow's milk – 300 ml
- Butter – 60 g
Homemade bacon / cracklings
- Homemade bacon (meaty or pure fatback) – 500 g (→ about 250 g of cracklings; keep the rendered fat for frying)
Caramelized onion
- Yellow onions – 1,000 g
- Vegetable oil / lard – 150 ml
- Salt – 10 g
- Ground coriander – 2 tsp (about 4 g)
- Spirit vinegar – 40 ml
- Sugar – 40 g
To finish
- Bryndza (for the top) – 100 g
- Fresh chives – 30 g
Method
Halušky
- Mix the flour, water, eggs and salt into a smooth, slightly runny dough.
- Press it through a halušky grater into boiling salted water.
- Once the dumplings float, cook for another 1–2 minutes, drain, cool and refrigerate.
Bacon
- Place the bacon in a cold pan.
- Render it slowly over low heat.
- Remove the cracklings and set aside; keep the fat for frying.
Caramelized onion
- Put the oil or lard in a pot and add the crushed coriander.
- Add the squeezed-out onion (salted in advance and left to release its water for 25 minutes).
- Caramelize by cooking slowly for about 60 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Before serving, add the vinegar and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Pour through a sieve – keep the fat and the onion separately.
Bryndza sauce
- Mix the bryndza, sour cream and starch.
- Heat the milk with the butter to about 80 °C (do not boil).
- Thin the sauce only at the very end, in the pan.
Finishing and serving
- Put the bacon fat and oil in a pan.
- Add a portion of halušky and fry briefly.
- Add the bryndza sauce and thin it with the warm milk.
- Take off the heat immediately, just stir and serve on a plate.
Serving
Per portion: about 300 g of bryndzové halušky, fried cracklings, caramelized onion, 1 tsp of fresh bryndza and chopped chives.
Key ingredients
- Butter
- Milk fat; carries flavour and rounds things off.
- Onion
- Prebiotic fibre for the gut flora, anti-inflammatory flavonoids.
- Sour cream
- Milk fat and probiotics; rounds off and cools spicy or sour soups.
Why it’s good for the body
- Bryndza is a source of protein and calcium.
- The egg dough and bacon provide satiety and energy.
- Caramelized onion brings natural sweetness and depth of flavor.
Traditional and functional notes on the ingredients — not medical claims.
Notes
- Never boil the sauce, or the bryndza will curdle.
- Halušky made a day ahead hold their shape better and don't stick.
- The fat from the onion is excellent for further use in the kitchen.