Chive Potica (Želševka)

Želševka is a chive potica most common in the Idrija and Cerklje regions in Slovenia. The name comes from the word želš that means chives in the local dialect. It is often savory like in this recipe, but a sweet version exists that calls for raisins and sugar in addition to chives. It is often served as a side to jota or braised sauerkraut. To learn more about potica, read Is it pizza? No, it’s potica!.

Bogataj, Janez.  Taste Slovenia. Ljubljana: Rokus Gifts & National Geographic, 2007.

Recipe

Ingredients for 1 potica baked in a potičnica of diameter of about 25 cm:

Dough

• 500 g flour

• 10 g instant yeast

• 50 ml olive oil

• 250 ml warm water

• 25 g of salt

Chives Filling

• 150 g chives

• 4 spring onion stalks*

• 10 g mint*

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• saltand pepper

• 1 egg white

*some recipes only use chives.

Instructions:

Dough

1. In a bowl, combine flour and yeast.

2. Add warm water and olive oil and mix a little.

3. Add salt and knead by hand or using a mixer until the dough is soft and elastic (about 15 minutes with a stand mixer). It should not stick to your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (about 90 minutes).

Filling

1. Chop the spring onion.

2. Put olive oil into a pan and heat over medium flame. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped spring onion and sauté for a few minutes.

3. Finely chop chives and mint.

4. Beat the egg whites until foamy.

Making potica

1. Heat the oven to 170 C (340 F). Traditionally, potica is baked in a ceramic pan called potičnica. If you have it, fill it up with water and place it into the oven until the water is boiling (this way potica does not dry up too much during baking). If you do not have it, you can use a bundt cake pan. Butter potičnica or a standard bundt cake pan well.

2. Dust the working area with flour. I usually roll out the dough on a tablecloth so it does not cool down too much during rolling.

3. Roll the dough into a 50 x 35 cm rectangle about 0.5 cm thick.

4. Spread the egg whites in an even layer over the dough.

5. Sprinkle the sautéed spring onions, chives, and mint in an even layer over the buttered dough. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6. Roll up the dough by hand, stretching it slightly with each roll. Seal the ends securely by gently pulling dough down to cover ends.
7. Transfer the potica roll to the prepared pan so that the seam is looking upward (this way it will not be visible once potica is taken out of the pan).
8. Prick the potica with a toothpick to eliminate air pockets and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.

9. Gently brush the potica with an egg wash.
10. Bake for an hour. After 30 minutes cover the potica with aluminum foil, so that the top won't brown too much.
11. Leave potica in the mold to cool down before taking it out.
12. Slice and serve.