UKRAINIAN SAUERKRAUT & SMOKED SAUSAGE STUFFED BUNS
When I married my handsome Ukrainian husband, I was determined to learn how to make all of the Ukrainian food he grew up on and loves. During our 33+ years of marriage, I’ve also developed a few Ukrainian influenced recipes which have become family favorites. This savory, filling and absolutely delicious stuffed bun is one of those recipes. If you like sauerkraut, you will LOVE these!
INGREDIENTS:
Batch of Bread dough divided into 24 balls. (Recipe below or use store bought frozen dinner roll dough, thawed out)
1 lb smoked garlic sausage, diced
1 liter sauerkraut, rinsed, drained thoroughly & chopped
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
Egg wash:
One egg beaten with 1 tsp water
2 tsp Poppyseeds for garnish
DIRECTIONS
FILLING:
In a frying pan over medium low heat, caramelize the diced onions in a tablespoon of butter until golden brown and translucent. Set aside to cool.
Drain and rinse sauerkraut and squeeze out excess moisture. Chop the sauerkraut or use a food processor and pulse a few times to break up the longer pieces.
In a large bowl, add prepared sauerkraut, caramelized onions, diced smoked garlic sausage, mashed potatoes (instant potatoes works great for this recipe), brown sugar, Dijon mustard, caraway seeds and black pepper. Blend well.
ASSEMBLING:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll or flatten each dough round into roughly a 3 inch circle. Place 1 heaping tablespoon filling in the center of dough. Pull dough closed, tightly pinching up around filling to seal. Place the balls seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Allow stuffed buns to rise for 20 minutes and then brush the tops and sides of each ball with egg wash & sprinkle the tops with poppy seeds.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden.
Yeast Dough:
1 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup veggie or canola oil
3 2/3 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
Add ingredients to bread machine in the order listed, set it to the “dough” option and hit start. My machine takes 1 1/2 hours to mix, knead and rise the dough from start to finish. If using a stand mixer, add all dough ingredients, attach the dough hook and turn on the lowest setting for 20-25 minutes. Let rise covered in unheated oven for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
