Idrijski zlikrofi

In my past recipe posts, I have described quite a few dishes that are typical for my home country, and are sometimes a pain to prepare. Well, I have added another one to the list. My country’s traditional food seems to follow the rule: the more complicated to prepare, the better it tastes. And a dish, called ‘Idrijski zlikrofi’ is not an exception.

The whole thing takes around four hours to make (I know, I know, but it is worth it! ), and this recipe makes around 120 Idrijski zlikrofi. Do not be alarmed, the Idrijski zlikrofi are tiny balls, so the whole amount will only feed eight to ten people.

But what are Idrijski zlikrofi? The name ‘Idrijski’ refers to the region of the country where this dish is the most famous, and a literal translation of ‘zlikrofi’ would be ‘potato balls’.

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Idrijski zlikrofi, served with the goulash sauce.

If you think that the dish on the photograph above looks delicious and you are ready to sacrifice a few hours of your precious time, this is the recipe:

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 300 grams of white flour
• Water (or canola oil) for softening the dough
• Two large eggs

For the filling:

• 500 grams of potatoes
• 50 grams of bacon bits (optional)
• 50 grams of diced onions
• Chives (a few)
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

The preparation of Idrijski zlikrofi consists of two parts - making the dough and making the filling. Well, there is also the third part - cooking them.

The first thing you will do, is make the dough. Make sure you have a surface available, such as the kitchen counter or a dining table - this dough is not made in a bowl, and yes, it can get quite messy.

First, knead together the flour and the two eggs, and if the dough is still falling apart after a while, add a few drops of water or canola oil. Some people also use milk for that, but I cannot really think of a good reason why would you mix milk and potatoes together.

You should knead the dough for around ten minutes, and then, cut the dough ball in half with a knife. If the dough is ready, it will not stick to the knife, and there should be no air bubbles inside. Once you are done with kneading, put the dough in a bowl and cover it with a cloth. The dough should ‘rest’ for thirty to forty minutes, and you can make the filling in the meantime.

To make the filling, you have to cook the potatoes first. The best way to do so is bring the water to a boiling beforehand. Once it boils, put the (peeled! ) potatoes inside and cook for ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the type of the potatoes.

Once the potatoes are cooked, mash them and add the rest of the ingredients - chives, salt and pepper, onions and bacon bits. If the filling is falling apart, add a few drops of canola oil to it, that should solve the problem.

And now for the fun part - make tiny balls out of the filling. My grandma says they should be walnut - sized. After you are done, take the dough and roll it out as thin as you can. Warning: this is a very painful part of the process, because the dough will keep shrinking back to its original size and it always makes me incredibly frustrated. Do not give up, you got this!

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This photograph excellently sums up the preparation of Idrijski zlikrofi.

Once you make the balls, put them on the rolled - out dough, not too close to each other. Usually, I make sure that the balls are about a width of my thumb apart from each other. Then, cut the dough between the balls into squares. Take the dough corners and pinch them together, so you trap the balls inside.

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I wish my Idrijski zlikrofi looked that good when I make them!

Bring water to a boiling, and put two pinches of salt in it. Once the water is boiling, put the desired amount of Idrijski zlikrofi in it. You will notice they sink to the bottom. Once they float up to the surface, they are ready.

Storage and serving suggestions

Making the Idrijski zlikrofi is only a part of the fun. The other fun part is choosing what to serve them with. If you eat them plain, you will find that they are lacking flavour. The two most common toppings that people serve Idrijski zlikrofi with, are the goulash sauce and the cheese sauce.

Or you can experiment a little and try them with the tomato sauce- this is my favourite, but other people call me weird because of that.

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Another way of serving Idrijski zlikrofi.

If you are like my grandma, who makes almost a yearly supply of Idrijski zlikrofi, you can simply freeze them - they will stay edible for months. The only thing I would like to warn you about, is that once you unfreeze them, you should not refreeze them again.

If you ever make Idrijski zlikrofi, let me know if you thought it was worth it. I am sure I already know the answer!

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