Ocvirkovka (pork crackling potica)
Ocvirkovka, also known as ocvirkova potica, is a traditional Slovenian dish, typically made during the carnival season. It’s a popular treat in Slovenia, particularly in areas where cracklings play an important role in local cuisine.
Ocvirkova potica can also be served as a hearty snack or side dish, and is often paired with soups, stews, or enjoyed on its own with a glass of wine or a cold beer.
To learn more about potica, read Is it pizza? No, it’s potica!.
Recipe
Ingredients for 1 potica baked in a potičnica of diameter of about 25 cm
Dough
400 g flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
200 ml lukewarm milk
10 g instant yeast
30 g sugar
20 g butter
1 egg for the eggwash
Pork Crackling Filling
350 g pork cracklings in fat
200 g sour cream
Instructions:
Dough
In a bowl, combine flour and yeast.
Heat the milk, sugar, and butter in a sauce pan until butter is melted.
Add the egg and mix.
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and knead by hand or using a mixer. After a minute, add salt and continue mixing until the dough is soft and elastic. 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
Sauté the cracklings in their own fat until they're golden in color and swell slightly. Drain off the excess fat.
Making potica
Heat the oven to 230 C (445 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.
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.
Roll the dough into a 50 x 35 cm rectangle about 0.5 cm thick.
Spread the sour cream in an even layer over the dough.
Sprinkle the drained pork cracklings in even layer over the dough.
Roll up the dough by hand, stretching it slightly with each roll. Seal the ends securely by gently pulling dough down to cover ends.
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).
Prick the potica with a toothpick to eliminate air pockets and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.
Gently brush the potica with an egg wash.
Put the potica into the oven. When the it starts to brown on the top, lower the temperature to 180 C (355 F). The total baking time is about 1 hour.
Leave potica in the mold to cool slightly before taking it out.
Slice and serve.
