Cheese Strudel

I finally made another one of my Grandmother's recipes!  This one is a cheese strudel, and I have been wanting to make it for a really long time but was a little bit intimidated by it.  I finally tackled it this week, and honestly, it was way easier than I thought it would be.  And of course so delicious!  Thin flaky layers of dough are filled with a lemony cottage cheese and raisin mixture.  Don't be intimidated, give it a try!  

Cheese Strudel

Strudel Dough:
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg white (reserve the yolk to use in the filling)

Cheese Filling:
1 1/2 pounds dry cottage cheese
1 egg
1 egg yolk (reserved from making the dough)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
grated peel from 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup butter, melted

Heat water and butter with sugar only long enough to melt the butter.  Set aside to cool.  Pile a mound of flour on a board and make a well in the center.  Drop unbeaten egg and extra egg white in the well.  With your fingertips work the egg into part of the flour until you have a smooth, sticky paste.  Add the cool water mixture gradually and continue stirring until all the flour is worked in.  Dough is smooth and sticky at this point. 

Now pretend you're bouncing a ball.  Slap the dough with the palm of your hand vigorously, stretching it up from the board and slapping it down on the board.  Do this about 100 times or until the dough no longer sticks to hands or board.  Shape dough into a smooth ball, brush with melted butter and cover with an inverted hot bowl for about 20 minutes.  While the strudel dough rests, prepare the cheese filling.

For the filling, work cottage cheese through a ricer or a sieve.  Mix remaining ingredients in with the cheese thoroughly (Instead of using a ricer, I just put the cottage cheese and remaining ingredients except the raisins in the food processor and processed it until the curds were a finer texture).  Set aside while you finish preparing the dough.

Spread a clean cloth over a large table - your kitchen table is fine.  Sprinkle the cloth with a generous coating of flour and put the ball of dough in the center.  Roll in a large circle as evenly as possible.  Put the rolling pin away and in a gentle hand over hand motion work from the center and stretch to the outer edge.  Be careful not to tear the dough for it cannot be mended.  keep moving around the table, stretching the dough until it hangs over the table and is as thins as tissue paper.  Trim off thick uneven edges with scissors to make a neat rectangle.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Grease a large shallow baking pan or tray, one with a raised edge.  Brush the dough with half the melted butter.  Spread the cheese filling over half of the lengthwise surface of the dough.  Roll the dough lengthwise, starting with the cheese covered side and rolling toward the empty edge.  Tuck in ends of roll neatly.  Place on pan and shape into a big horseshoe, or circle.  Brush with melted butter and bake 10 minutes.  Turn oven down to 350F and bake 30 to 35 minutes longer, brushing with melted butter every 10 to 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve hot, warm, or cold.  Serves up to 12.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy