HUNGARIAN CHEESE SQUARES - OMLÓS TÚRÓS

 

Hungarian túró is NOT cottage cheese. Lots of Hungarian on-line recipes and cookbooks substitute túró with cottage cheese. Don’t try these, they don’t work. Túró is virtually unknown in North America. Possible substitution for túró is curd cheese, or farmer’s cheese or quark. But since none of these are mainstays, it can be a challenge to find them. This is why I periodically make a batch of túró. You can also find recipes for curd cheese, farmer's cheese and for quark. Take your pick. Omlós Túrós, also known as Túrós Pite is one of those delicacies where making túró or some type of replacement is worth the effort. Just don't use cottage cheese.  

1972 and Just arrived from Canada. The three of us are stuffing our faces with Nagymama's túrós.  My mom is enamored with Susie, her first grandchild. Peter is sitting by his red car. The rest of the family is watching us strange new birds...

HUNGARIAN CHEESE SQUARES

Pastry:

1 cup flour 

 1/4 cup butter 

1 egg yolk 

1/2 cup icing sugar 

1 tsp baking powder 

grated peel of half a lemon 

1 Tbsp 14% sour cream 

Filling: 

2 cups túró or curd cheese 

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup semolina 

1/2 cup 14% sour cream 

grated peel of half a lemon 

1/2 cup raisins 

1 egg white for the top

icing sugar for dusting

• Line a square baking pan with parchment paper and set it aside.  
• Rub the butter into the flour and add the remaining ingredients.
• Combine to make soft dough and refrigerate to chill.
• Meanwhile make the filling.
• In a large bowl combine first five filling ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Stir in the raisins.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Take the chilled dough and divide into two parts.
• Roll out the first dough to fit the baking pan.
• Spread the filling evenly over the bottom layer.
• Roll out the second layer; making it slightly larger to accommodate for the slant of your baking pan.
• Place the top layer on top of the filling..
• Prick with a fork and brush the top with the beaten egg white.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden.
• Let the square cool to room temperature before slicing.
• Sprinkle icing sugar on the top. 

Pastry

Filling