Cherry vareniki: Lazy-style dumplings for a healthy Russian breakfast (RECIPE)

Vareniki, aka dumplings with savory and sweet fillings, must be one of the most signature Slavic dishes. Cooking traditional vareniki is always a labor-intensive process: it takes a couple of hours to knead the dough to prepare the filling. That’s why, instead, I am so in love with these so-called lazy-style vareniki: 20 minutes and you are good to go!

Compared to traditional vareniki, the lazy ones are quite different as far as ingredients, cooking technique and taste. What makes them “lazy”, is the tender tvorog dough: you just need to mix some tvorog or quark with eggs and a small amount of flour. Another “lazy” aspect is the shaping; it’s easier and faster. 

By the way, the dough for lazy vareniki is almost the same as the dough for syrniki, but instead of frying them on the pan you boil vareniki in water.

You can make lazy vareniki with any beloved filling (preferably sweet) and even without filling. I’ve tried many variations but the cherry one is still hands down the best match for lazy vareniki: a combo of slightly sweet tvorog dough and sour cherries.

Ingredients:

• 350 g tvorog or quark
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tbsps plain flour + some for dusting
• 2 tbsps semolina
• 2 tbsps sugar
• 150 g cherry
• a pinch of salt

Cooking:

1. In a bowl, mix tvorog, sugar, salt and egg with a fork until smooth.

2. Next, add flour and semolina and mix again: you should get a quite thick and sticky dough. If you feel it is still too soft then add another tablespoon of flour, but make sure not to overload the mixture with flour. Otherwise, your varenikiwill be too stiff. Next, start making varenikiright off the bat, or leave the dough in the fridge for around 15 minutes to set, if you have enough time. 

3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: remove the pits from fresh cherries and set aside. If using frozen ones, don’t defreeze the berries.

4. Now roll the dough into a long cylinder around 3-4 cm in diameter. Cut in equal size pieces and roll each into a ball.

5. Dust your cooking surface with the flour and work with one piece at a time: flatten the ball into a circle and put a cherry in the center. Gently pinch the edges and form a ball. Repeat with all the dough pieces.

6. Bring a pot of water with a teaspoon of salt to a boil and add vareniki– you don’t have to cook all of them at a time; feel free to freeze some if needed. Wait until the varenikiare floating and cook for 2 more minutes.

7. Drain, let cool for a couple of minutes and serve with a generous serving of butter and sour cream – priyatnogo appetita!

READ MORE: Dive into cherry season with this Russian sweet-braided bread