Zrazy

Ingredients

Meat zrazy

• 800 gbeef topside or pork loin, in thin slices
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbspmustard

Filling

• 300 gmushrooms, finely chopped
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3rashers bacon, diced
• 2hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 2 tbspbreadcrumbs
• chopped dill and parsley

Potato zrazy

• 1 kgpotatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1egg
• 3 tbsppotato starch
• salt

To cook

• flour, for dredging
• oil or lard
• 300 mlstock
• 150 mlsour cream

Equipment

• a meat mallet
• cocktail sticks or string

To serve

• with buckwheat kasha, or with potatoes

Directions

1. Cut the beef into slices about 1 cm thick and beat them out thin. Lay each between sheets of cling film and beat with the flat side of a mallet, striking outward from the centre. Use the flat side and strike outward. Beat them to about 4 mm, thin and even. Season them and spread a little mustard over each. Now the filling, which is cooked dry.
2. Fry the bacon until the fat renders, then the onions until golden, then the mushrooms over a high heat. Cook the mushrooms hard until all their water has evaporated. A wet filling makes the roll fall apart and dilutes the sauce, so cook it genuinely dry.
3. Mix in the chopped egg, breadcrumbs and herbs and let it cool. Put a line of filling along one end of each slice, leaving a border. Fold the sides in and roll it up firmly.
4. Leave a clear border so the sides can be folded in, which is what stops the filling escaping at the ends. Now dredge them in flour and brown them hard in hot fat. Brown them properly on all sides. That colour is the base of the sauce and pale zrazy give a thin, weak gravy.
5. Lift them out and fry a little onion in the same pan. Add the stock, scraping up everything stuck to the base. Return the rolls, cover, and simmer gently for 40 to 45 minutes. Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil, which toughens the meat and breaks the rolls. Turn them once during cooking.
6. Take the pan off the heat and temper the sour cream with a ladle of hot liquid before stirring it in. Sour cream added straight into a hot pan splits into grainy flecks, and tempering it first prevents that entirely.
7. Take out the sticks or string before serving. Boil floury potatoes, drain them and let the steam evaporate, then mash them. Let them dry out properly. Wet mash makes a mixture that will not hold and the zrazy collapse in the pan. Mash them by hand rather than in a processor, which turns potato to glue. Mix in the egg, potato starch and salt while still warm.
8. Let the mixture cool completely, which firms it considerably and makes it far easier to shape. Now take a portion, flatten it in your palm, and put a spoonful of the same mushroom filling in the centre. Seal it completely, since any gap lets the filling out and the fat in. Dredge in flour or breadcrumbs.
9. Fry them in hot fat for 4 to 5 minutes a side until deep golden and crisp. Do not move them for the first few minutes, which lets a crust form and stops them sticking and tearing. Turn them once, with a wide spatula. Serve them hot with sour cream and dill.

Technique

• There are two distinct dishes called zrazy: meat roulades and potato patties.
• The dish is shared with Poland and Lithuania from the Grand Duchy period.
• Belarusian cooking uses potatoes to an extent that is not exaggerated.

Substitutions

• Pork in place of beef for the meat version.
• Any mushroom, and dried porcini soaked, which is better still.

Variations

• Potato zrazy, filled with mushroom or meat.
• Meat zrazy with a pickled cucumber in the filling.
• Filled with buckwheat kasha, which is traditional.

History

A dish shared with Poland and Lithuania since the Grand Duchy; Belarusian versions are made with both meat and grated potato.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zrazy?

Zrazy is a main from Belarus: beaten meat or potato patties rolled around a savoury filling. A dish shared with Poland and Lithuania since the Grand Duchy; Belarusian versions are made with both meat and grated potato.

How long does Zrazy take to make?

Zrazy takes 40 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Zrazy?

Yes, within limits. Pork in place of beef for the meat version. Any mushroom, and dried porcini soaked, which is better still.

What is the most important thing to get right in Zrazy?

Lift them out and fry a little onion in the same pan. Add the stock, scraping up everything stuck to the base. Return the rolls, cover, and simmer gently for 40 to 45 minutes. Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil, which toughens the meat and breaks the rolls. Turn them once during cooking.