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Granny's beet rolls
Our granny Marg is nicknamed the Beet Roll Queen for good reason: she loves to make beet rolls. Before any big holiday, you can find her at her kitchen table with a giant batch of fresh bread dough and a mountain of beet leaves just rolling away to the sound of Johnny Cash in the background. Beet rolls are a traditional Ukrainian dish and they are simply addictive. Of course, Granny’s version is rather rich (putting it mildly). We are including both versions here, the real deal along with a vegan version.
You’ll need a large roasting pan with a lid for this dish and a good amount of time, as they take a while to make. We don’t do this traditionally, but some people put chopped fresh dill in the whipping cream before pouring it on or add it to the sour cream before serving. Either would taste amazing!
SERVES
TO
Ingredients
- 1 batch Perfect White Buns dough
- 80 to 90 clean, dry wilted medium beet leaves (see Tip)
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) salt, divided
- 3 cups (750 milliliters) whipping (35%) cream, at room temperature
- Sour cream, for serving (optional)
Directions
- Generously grease a large roasting pan with butter or olive oil.
- Pull off a golf-ball size piece of dough. Place it on a beet leaf and roll up the leaf (the dough may slightly stick out the ends—that’s okay). Place the beet roll seam side down in the roasting pan. Repeat with the remaining dough and beet leaves, fitting the rolls snugly in the pan (they should be touching), until the bottom of the pan is covered in a layer of beet rolls. You should have used up half of the beet leaves and dough at this stage. Sprinkle the rolls with 1/2 teaspoon (two milliliters) of the salt.
- Repeat with the remaining dough and beet leaves to make a second layer, again fitting them in snugly so that they touch each other. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon (two milliliters) salt over the rolls. Cover with the lid and let it rise until they have doubled in size, two to three hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Tip:
- After washing the beet leaves, lay them (without overlapping) on kitchen towels, cover them with another kitchen towel, and leave them on the counter for three to four hours to dry and wilt. This makes them easier to roll.
Vegan:
- Use the vegan version of the bun dough. Omit the whipping cream. Once baked, pour one cup (250 milliliters) melted vegan butter mixed with two cups (500 milliliters) Cashew Cream evenly over the beet rolls.
- Bake, uncovered, for an additional five minutes. Alternatively, you can pan-fry the cooked beet rolls (once slightly cooled) in the same vegan butter and Cashew Cream mixture (instead of pouring it on top), tossing and cooking in a large pan in two batches over medium heat until they are crisp and golden (and so delicious!).
- Serve with our Vegan Sour Cream.
Excerpted from Fraiche Food, Full Hearts: A Collection of Recipes for Every Day and Casual Celebrations by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Copyright © 2019 by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Photography copyright © 2019 by Janis Nicolay. Published by Penguin Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
