Guest post by Ana Cerovski from KitchenToast
Croatian cuisine is known for its diversity and thanks to that, it presents a great place for foodies and explorers of new flavors, aromas, and nuances. But regardless of what you may think, Croatian traditional dishes are actually quite easy, simple, and budget-friendly to do at home! The basis of that tradition is in the usage of everyday ingredients such as flour, eggs, water, vegetables, and those classic seasonings.
Due to that, these budget-friendly dishes are the best examples of Croatian traditional cuisine, its simpleness, uniqueness, and of course, tastiness.
These 3 recipes present the best of Istria, Dalmatian Poljica, and Dubrovnik and the recipes are for traditional Istrian dish fuži with tomato sauce and rosemary, a dish made of homemade dough with chard filling called soparnik, and elegant, classy, and delicious dessert from the town of Dubrovnik!
All these dishes need just a couple of simple and everyday ingredients, but their final flavors will certainly seduce you!
Fuži With Tomato Sauce & Rosemary
Fuži With Tomato Sauce & Rosemary
Istria is known for its autochthonous pasta – from pasutice, fidelini, and ravijoli, to rigationi and pljukanci. But the most popular Istrian pasta is called fuži. Fuži resembles small flutes and they have a small hole right in the middle in order to allow the sauce to beautifully combine with their nuances. Fuži is really easy to make and in case you make too much pasta – you can simply store it in the freezer! Fuži can be made and served with various meat and fish, but the best ones (and simplest ones) are made with tomato sauce and a touch of rosemary!
Ingredients
- 350 g bread flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp white wine
- 1 tbsp oil
- salt
- water
- 500 ml tomato juice
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp olive oil
- rosemary
- a pinch of black pepper
How To Make
- Mix flour, eggs, oil, wine, and a bit of water into a nice and firm dough.
- Thinly roll out the dough and cut it into strips, and then those strips into squares.
- Take one square and fold two opposite ends over each other. Repeat this action with the rest of the dough and then leave fuži to dry for around 15 minutes. Cook them for 20 minutes.
- Stir and simmer garlic with olive oil. Add tomato juice and rosemary, and cook everything for 30 minutes. At the end of cooking, add a bit of salt and black pepper into the sauce.
Where To Buy
Bread flour: ASDA (£0.40/1.5 kg)
Eggs: ASDA (£1.74/10 pcs)
White wine: ASDA (£3.25/75 cl)
Tomato juice: Waitrose (£1.45/1 l)
Rosemary: Co-op (£0.75/25 g)
Soparnik
Soparnik
Croats really love to use different vegetables for their dishes and chard is surely at the top of their favorites list! Soparnik presents a simple pie with a chard filling and it is the traditional dish of Dalmatian Poljica. The ingredients for this recipe might not say much but the dish is juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside, and perfect for a summer snack throughout the day or as a simple, light, and nutritious lunch. What more to ask for in the summer!
Ingredients
- 500 g pastry flour
- 350 ml water
- 50 ml olive oil
- 1 kg chard
- 60 g onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp Vegeta (universal food additive)
How To Make It
- Mix flour, salt, oil, and water into a nice dough. Divide the dough into one bigger and one smaller ball and let them rest for 15 minutes under a cloth.
- Roll out the bigger dough and place it into a baking pan. Put the mixture made of chard, cut onion, and Vegeta on the dough. Roll out the smaller dough and put it over the mixture.
- Press together the edges of the lower and upper dough. Pierce the top dough with a fork.
- Bake soparnik on 180°C (356 °F) for 40 minutes.
- After it is baked, coat soparnik with a mixture made of garlic and olive oil.
Where To Buy
Pastry flour (sponge flour): Sainsbury’s (£1.10/1 kg)
Olive oil: ASDA (£1.75/100 ml)
Chard: Ocado (£2.85/400 g)
Vegeta: ASDA (£1)
Rožata
Rožata
Summer desserts must be light, refreshing, and of course – delicious. And that’s why rožata is a perfect match for those hot summer days! But you need to be warned – despite its simpleness, rožata is considered to be the queen of all the desserts. This Dubrovnik’s old and traditional dessert presents an ancient Dalmatian pudding with vanilla flavor and caramel topping. Quite yummy and refreshing while all the ingredients offer a perfect palette of flavors!
Ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 11 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp brandy
- 1 tbsp vanilla aroma
- 1 orange peel
- 500 ml milk
- a pinch of salt
- water
How To Make
- Put 6 tbsp of sugar and 2 tbsp of water into a cooking pan on a light fire and stir the mixture until it gets a nice light brown color. Once the caramel is done, put it into a bigger bowl (suitable for being placed in the oven).
- Mix eggs, 5 tbsp of sugar, salt, brandy, vanilla aroma, and orange peel.
- Put the mixture into a baking bowl and place it into a deeper baking pan. Pour water in the baking pan until it is half full (rožata needs to be baked in that water bath too).
- Put everything into the oven at 180°C (356°F) for 45 minutes. Once it is done and cold, ran a thin knife along the edges and turn rožata on a plate.
Where To Buy
Eggs: ASDA (£1.74/10 pcs)
Brandy: Tesco (£6.25/35 cl)
Vanilla aroma: ASDA (£0.69/38 ml)
Orange peel: Waitrose (£0.49/1 pcs)
That was it! If you need more Croatian recipes and interesting dishes, visit the site KitchenToast!
