Potato lezhen: how to cook an authentic Polissya dish at home

Potato lazy lezhen is an authentic dish from Polissya, the name of which speaks for itself. It is a very satisfying dish that is worth preparing for a very hungry group of people.

You can learn how to cook potato lezhen on the Carpathian Shkvarky YouTube channel. It turns out that you need very simple ingredients to make this dish.

Ingredients

• Meat - 500 grams
• Sauerkraut - 300 g
• Egg - 2 pcs
• Potatoes - 1200 g
• Onion - 1 pc
• Lard - 2 tbsp
• Butter - 50 g
• Salt
• Pepper

Method of preparation

1. Heat a frying pan with two tablespoons of lard. You can use vegetable oil instead.

2. Scroll any part of the pork and onion in a meat grinder using a strainer with large holes.

3. Thoroughly mix the minced meat with the chopped onion until smooth.

4. Fry the minced meat in a frying pan until almost done.

5. Peel the potatoes, cut them into large cubes and boil in salted water until they are fully cooked.

6 . Add the sauerkraut to the minced meat and simmer over low heat until it is fully cooked and then until all the liquid has evaporated. If this is not done, the lezhen will fall apart.

7. Drain the water from the cooked potatoes, add the butter and mash them without lumps with a pestle. Set aside to cool.

8. Add two eggs to the warm mashed potatoes and mash again with a crush.

9. Cover a rectangular baking dish with parchment, grease with butter, lard, or vegetable oil.

10. Put the mashed potatoes in the baking dish and smooth them around the perimeter, forming a repeating shape.

11. Put the filling on the potatoes and press well.

12. Spread the remaining mashed potatoes over the filling and cover the lazhen with it, evenly leveling it.

13. Garnish the surface with a slotted fork and put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.