Blagenda

WooHoo! I made a trip to the homeland this weekend to make blagenda with my folks and one of my sisters. Her kids and my foster daughter got in on the action, too.

We used an old family recipe that was brought over from Ukraine when my family emigrated/immigrated* a couple of generations ago. I don’t know just how old the recipe is, but it’s certainly a traditional dish for people of “Germans from Russia” heritage.

If you’re wondering, blagenda is essentially a pumpkin turn-over or tart. It’s a basic short pastry filled with grated pumpkin then it’s baked for a bit. Growing up, we always had it as a savoury even though some families would add sugar and cinnamon to make it a sweet dish. This year, we gave the sweet-side a try and made a few with cinnamon and sugar ourselves.

We made more than 260 of the little guys in total. That’s a lot of pastry rolling and my arms are very, very sore now, having been the main pastry-roller-outer. I was so busy rolling pastry that I didn’t end up touching any of the pumpkins before they were placed in the pastry shells. (The task of peeling, chopping, and shredding pumpkin went to Mum, Celeste, and the kids.)

The recipe we followed is one that my Great Aunt Mary wrote down – but who knows how many times it was copied before then. If you care to give it a go, here’s a copy of the recipe for you, edited for grammar and clarity because it’s what I do.

Blagenda

Pumpkin mixture:

• 6 cups grated pumpkin
• ½ cup grated or chopped onion
• 1½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Mix all together and let set ½ hour. It makes its own juice [Note: Juices should be drained before placed in pastry but save them and use them as a great soup base. Yum!]. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Pastry:

• 6 cups flour
• 1½ cup shortening
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sugar

Mix as you would a pie crust, adding milk as needed, and work well.  Roll out as you would pie crust and cut circles 3-6 inches wide. Place pumpkin mixture on half of the pastry and flip the other half over to make a tart. [NOTE: For best results, use a bit of water to help seal the edges.] Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until a nice golden brown. [NOTE: We baked for about 25 minutes – the size of your tarts will impact the cooking time.]

[Side note: I was asked to give proper UK measurements, too, but haven’t got the math done yet. I will try to update later in the week but if you really can’t wait, US to UK measurements can be found here.]

And – big surprise – here are a couple of videos of the process, followed by a photo gallery, for your enjoyment. (The second video is the best.)

* Emigrate and immigrate have two different but similar meanings, if you didn’t know. Someone emigrates from a location and immigrates to a location. So, to use the terms in sentences: My maternal and paternal ancestors emigrated from Ukraine a couple of generations ago. And: I hope to immigrate to Scotland in the next year.