Traditional Ukrainian gombovtsi with cheese: what to cook for Butter week 2025 besides pancakes

Gombovtsi is one of the most popular desserts of Transcarpathian cuisine. They are essentially steamed cottage cheese dough pies topped with breadcrumbs.

Chef Valeria Matrokhina knows exactly how to make gombovtsi. She shared the recipe on Instagram and provided the exact proportions for making this incredible Transcarpathian dessert.

Ingredients

• Cottage cheese 5% - 360 gr.
• Egg yolks - 2 pcs.
• Flour - 2 tbsp
• Semolina - 2 tbsp.
• Sugar - 1 tbsp
• Strawberries
• Sour cream 20%, sour cream
• Halva
• Breadcrumbs
• Brown sugar

The way of preparation

1. Choose dry cottage cheese, without excess liquid. Add the egg yolks, flour, semolina, sugar and mash everything with a fork until smooth. Let stand for 10-15 minutes.

2. For the cream, whip the sour cream with halva in a large bowl.

3. Form the dough and roll it into a sausage; if the dough is too sticky, you can dust it with flour.

4. Cut the sausage and form gombovtsi, putting strawberries inside.

5. Put them in salted boiling water, let them float to the surface, and cook for a few minutes afterwards.

6. Pour the breadcrumbs into a frying pan and fry a little, then combine the breadcrumbs with sugar and roll the gombovtsi.

7. Serve with halva sauce.