Meteník (Sauerkraut Biscuits)
On my recent trip to Slovakia this past October, we visited the UNESCO World Heritage historical village of Vlkolínec. There I got a chance to try something I have never heard of before: a sauerkraut filled thin bread called meteník. This food was also news to my dad, but the lady working the shop confirmed that this in fact is a traditional dish. Sure enough, there are quite a few variations floating around Slovak recipe sites, although I must admit I was disappointed not to find it in any of the three Slovak cookbooks I own. But it’s quite possible it’s hiding in there, just under a different name. When I got back home to the USA, I tried one of the recipes, but it was a straight to trash disaster. This second one, with some of improvisations, turned out much better. Even my wife, who is not a big fan of Slovak “koliba” food, approved!
Ingredients: 2/3 to 1 lb of sauerkraut, half a cup of milk, 1 2/3 cups flour, yeast, teaspoon of sugar, three tablespoons of lard, salt, garlic + oil for topping
Prep Time: about an hour (including rise time), then another 1h15m baking at 350F
My mom would make this with bread dough. Sometimes she would put the potato cheese in it that she used for pierogies and we would sprinkle sugar on top.
What the heck is “potato cheese”??
This recipe reminds me a lot of what my mom use to call “pagachi” only she didn’t use the sauerkraut, just mashed up potatoes and she cooked it in the bottom of her oven. Similar also is the tortilla but much much smaller.
Yes, we made pagachii, sometimes with cheese and potato filling on top, sometimes with cabbage and onion or mushrooms. Thick crest. So good.
We also made Loksha with just mashed potatoes and flour.
Kneaded and rolled thin, the baked on bottom of hot oven .
Brushed either butter and salted.
My grandmother made pagach as well, although her recipe used a more involved kraut and cabbage filing that was between two layers of dough and it was thicker. She also cooked it on the bottom of the oven. My Mom modified it to make rolls–she’d roll out a circle of the yeast dough, cut it into wedges, brush with butter and roll up around the kraut and cabbage filling. She’d call them kapusniky. I still make them every Christmas Eve.
We just returned from three weeks exploring Slovakia, including Vlkolínec. My crock of sauerkraut is ready, so I’ll be trying to make this treat soon. Thanks for the recipe.
I finally got a chance to make this dish. The results were out of this world. We found ourselves nibbling little corners off a piece long after we were full. The only change I made was to put tiny slivers of bacon on top of the dough when I put it into the oven. As a recommendation to those who will be trying this recipe, don’t substitute for clean fresh lard, preferably home-rendered. It produces so much flavor and allows the edges and bottom to crisp nicely.
My maternal Grandmother (Matka) used to make a bread stuffed with her homemade sauerkraut which was first fried with onions and butter with a little caraway. It was so good. We called it kapustanik. Anyone else ever heard of this?
Kapustníky
http://www.slovakcooking.com/2010/recipes/cabbage-rolls-kapustniky/
My mother-in-law made pagach with leftover bread dough. When done she would brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. That was the treat for her nine kids. No Oreos or Twinkies in those days.
I make it with sauerkraut or potato-cheese filling. We like it rolled very thin.
Hi, I come from the village near Vlkolinec and we make metenik once a week back home. I moved to australia few yrs ago and I also make it here regularly- the aussies love it and so does my toddler;)
Nepoznam ale moze byt dobra mnamka;)
This looks great! Can you give an estimate of how much yeast you used? Instant, rapid, or fresh yeast cake type? I googled, but man, not having any luck on yeast amounts.
I use frozen bread rolls and for filling I use stuffed cabbage type filling-ground beef/pork/onion/grated garlic I tbs beef broth–teeny amt so not wet. I had this at a Russian church and soo good-had to get there early or all gone you can add little bit of sauerkraut but we like without
Okay, I have to admit… I was a little skeptical about making sauerkraut biscuits! I love sauerkraut, and I love biscuits obviously, but combining them was kind of scary! So glad I was wrong, this was delish! Even the kids liked them, and that is not easy to do!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My grandmother made pagachii with sauerkraut blended in the dough, we just buttered it and munched!
My aunt Josephine Durkacs made and gave tasty sauerkraut biscuits to my nephew Jody when he was younger; and she called them strashenyik (roll that “r”). She never shared that food with me (and I was her godchild) 🙂 I tried for years looking up the recipe. She unfortunately died 12 years ago and left no recipes; and my nephew relayed his strashenyik story after she’d passed. This year I found from a Facebook Czech site that they usually called them zelnicky. I tried making them from a recipe someone else posted in the comments and found them tasty, savory! So glad to finally find THIS Slovak name “metenik”, myself being half Slovak, 1/4 Czech and 1/4 Rusyn/Ruthenian. This is a wonderful site! I’m printing and will try several of the recipes, including this one, after I find the proper yeast.
I’m a vegan. Can I make any substitutions?
looks interesting have to try it