Verinika

by Wiebe family
(British Columbia, Canada)

This is my grandma's family recipe. Similar to perogies but filled with dry cottage cheese and the dough is made with potatoes and flour.

14 raw russet potatoes (washed,peeled & roughly cut)
2 cups white flour
2 egg whites
2 tsp each garlic and onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

filling:
500 ml dry curd cottage cheese
2 egg yolks
salt and pepper to taste

Fill blender half way with potatoes, add water until potatoes are covered. Blend until smooth (no lumps) then pour mixture into strainer over top of a large bowl. Repeat process until all potatoes have been blended.

Put the potatoes from strainer into another large bowl. Discard water mixture from the other bowl. Then scrape the starch from the bottom of that bowl and put into potato mixture. Add flour, egg whites, and remaining spices. Put mixture aside.
Heat non-stick pan on medium heat.
Mix cottage cheese, egg yolks, and salt & pepper in small bowl.

Using a large spoon, spread potato mixture on pan in a 2-inch diameter circle. Spread until a quarter inch thick. Add a small amount of the cheese mixture on one half of the potato pancake. As soon as the potatoes turn grey fold over the other half of potato to cover the cheese. It will look like a half circle. Continue cooking on both sides until golden brown (also to fully cook the egg yolk in the cheese).

Repeat process until potato mixture and cheese are gone.

If you run out of cheese just make potato pancakes until potato mixture is gone.

Serve warm with butter. This may seem difficult but worth it. Amazing taste. Makes about 45-50 verinkas depending on how big you make the potato pancakes.

Delish!!!!