Vereniki with Farmer's Sausage and Schmauntfatt

Vereniki with Farmer's Sausage and Schmauntfatt

Recipes with Farmer's Sausage

The defining Mennonite meal. Cottage cheese-filled dumplings served with pan-fried farmer's sausage coins and a ladleful of thick cream gravy (schmauntfatt). This combination appeared on Mennonite tables in southern Manitoba two or three times a week for a century. The vereniki are boiled, then fried in butter until golden. The schmauntfatt is just cream, flour, salt, and pepper reduced to a thick sauce. Three components, none of them complicated, all of them essential.

Prep Time

45 min

Cook Time

30 min

Servings

4

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups dry cottage cheese
  • 1 egg (for filling)
  • 500g farmer's sausage
  • 2 tbsp butter (for frying vereniki)
  • 2 tbsp butter (for schmauntfatt)
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (for schmauntfatt)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper

Steps

1

Make the vereniki dough: mix 2 cups flour, 1 egg, 1/2 cup water, pinch of salt. Knead until smooth, rest 30 minutes.

2

Mix 2 cups dry cottage cheese with 1 egg, salt and pepper for the filling.

3

Roll dough thin, cut 3-inch circles, fill with a spoonful of cottage cheese mixture, fold and seal edges.

4

Boil vereniki in salted water for 3-4 minutes until they float. Drain.

5

Fry boiled vereniki in butter until golden on both sides.

6

Slice 500g farmer's sausage into 1cm coins and pan-fry in a dry skillet until browned on both sides.

7

Make schmauntfatt: melt 2 tbsp butter, whisk in 2 tbsp flour, slowly add 2 cups heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until thick.

8

Plate the vereniki and sausage, pour schmauntfatt over everything.

Tips

Use dry-pressed cottage cheese, not the wet kind from a tub. Wet cottage cheese makes the filling leak through the dough. If you can only find wet, drain it in cheesecloth overnight. The vereniki can be boiled ahead and fried just before serving.