COLȚUNAȘI CU VIȘINE (aka traditional romanian dish with sour-cherries)

June is here. Summer is here. My sour-cherry tree went crazy and I have ripe sour-cherries!

Remember this tree?

This is it now!

And because I love so much sour-cherries and apparently I have them, I “tricked” my grandma into spoiling me and my boyfriend with COLȚUNAȘI CU VIȘINE.

With what you might ask… .

Well before I’ll give you the recipe, I will start with a little description.

COLȚUNAȘII are actually a traditional romanian food, more exactly a moldovian traditional food. It’s pretty much like italian ravioli, but not quite the same (from what I know at least).

They can be served as a main dish or a dessert and they can be filled with almost anything!

Where I am from they are served as a dessert filled with cheese or sour-cherries. The one with cheese where my grandpa favorites and those with sour-cherries mine. He loved this dish so much and after they got married, my grandma learned the recipe. Since then, we all enjoyed those goodies grandma does. The ones with cheese you can basically prepare anytime, but those with sour-cherries only in summer.

Yeah, yeah I know we can preserve fruits the whole year, but they are not the same for me. It tastes completely different!

Anyway, the beauty of this recipe is the fact that is a simple recipe! In less than 40 min you can eat them, and bonus they are healthy, or healtier than sweets you’ll buy!

They are full of carbs, I have to admit this, but they also have vitamins B,A,C,K, some of them (B3,B5) are still viable after you boil the fruits.

All you need for this recipe is written below. Today with sour-cherries, if you are interested I’m gonna post with cheese and other fillings. Also, for a more traditional vibe I asked my grandma to “pose” for this article, so you’re gonna see her worked hands doing their magic with no filter.

What do you need?

flour – approx. 300g
water-for boiling and also for dough
salt – a pinch
sour-cherries -aprox 450-550 g

I haven’t posted exact quantities because it depends on the flour’s quality, size of sour-cherries. (with this quantities you’ll get enough for more or less than 3 people, in my family)

How do you make them?

Well first thing is to grab a bowl, add flour then salt, mix everything with a spoon. After this, you will need to add water (preferably warm). Add small amount every time and knead until you’ll have a non-sticky, elastic dough.

Leave for 5-10 minutes. You can check the fruits, wash them.

After that, make 2 balls out of the dough. Roll the first ball of dough, until you have a thin layer (around 2 mm).

Cut it in squares of 6*6 cm or bigger, depending on the size you want. Put 2-3 sour-cherries in the middle and fold it. Use a fork to seal them put them in boiling water. At first they will sink. When they float they are ready! Do the same for both dough balls.