Skip to content
Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

Smažený sýr

Smažený sýr, a thick slab of breaded Edam fried until molten, is the dish every Czech student orders at a Prague hospoda and the one vegetarian main that turns up on nearly every menu from Brno to the Šumava mountain huts. It comes with tatarská omáčka (tartare sauce) and either boiled potatoes or chips, and a cold pivo on the side. The joy is the crunch giving way to stretchy, salty cheese. Chef's tip: chill the breaded slices for 20 minutes and double-coat them, otherwise the cheese bursts out into the oil before the crumb is golden.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Houskové knedlíky

Houskové knedlíky are the sliced bread dumplings that sit beside almost every sauce in a Prague pub, from mushroom svíčková-style cream sauces to sweet-sour dill gravy. Unlike the round German Semmelknödel, these are a soft yeast dough rolled into a log with crisp cubes of stale roll inside, simmered whole, then cut into thick, spongy slices that drink up gravy. Czech grandmothers still slice them with a length of thread rather than a knife, which keeps the crumb open instead of squashing it. Chef's tip: cut the cooked loaf with a piece of cotton thread wrapped around it and pulled tight; a knife presses the slices into dense, gluey discs.

55 minCzechSides
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chinese tawa potatoes

An Indo-Chinese favourite from the barbecue tawa: crisp fried potato chips tossed with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, ketchup and plenty of chillies and spring onion, then glazed with a little cornflour sauce. Sticky, salty and hot. Serve straight away as a starter.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vepřo knedlo zelo

Ask anyone in Prague, Brno or a village pub in Moravia for the most Czech meal of all and they will name vepřo knedlo zelo: roast pork, dumplings and cabbage, eaten at Sunday lunch and washed down in pubs with a cold lager. This is a pork dish: shoulder rubbed with garlic, caraway and salt and roasted slowly in a little water until it falls into tender slices, the pan juices becoming the gravy. Alongside go slices of soft bread dumpling and red or white cabbage braised sweet and sour. The trap is roasting the pork too hot and too dry; a splash of water in the tin and a low oven keep it juicy. Chef's tip: lay the pork fat side down for the first hour, then turn it fat side up so the fat renders and crisps at the end.

210 minCzechMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Svíčková na smetaně

Svíčková is the dish Czech families make for weddings, name days and big Sunday lunches, and in Prague pubs it appears on the menu as the proud centre of the week. Beef is marinated for a day or two with root vegetables and spices, slow-roasted, and the vegetables are then blended into a smooth, sweet-sour cream sauce. It is always served the same way: sliced beef, a pool of sauce, bread dumplings, a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a twist of whipped cream and a slice of lemon. Many cooks under-season the sauce; it should taste clearly of vinegar, sugar and allspice, not just cream. The optional smoked bacon that flavours the vegetables is pork; leave it out and the sauce is still rich. Chef's tip: blend the sauce until completely velvety, then push it through a sieve; that silky finish is what makes svíčková special.

220 minCzechMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Buchty

Buchty are the soft, pillowy yeast buns that Czech grandmothers bake in a roasting tin on Saturday, filled with povidla (plum butter), jam or sweet quark and packed so close that they rise into each other and have to be torn apart. They are the Czech answer to a cinnamon bun: eaten warm with milky coffee, packed for train journeys and school trips, and famous from the fairy tale in which the hero sets off with a bag of his mother's buchty. Unlike open koláče, the filling is sealed inside. Chef's tip: brush the sides of each bun with melted butter before you pack them in, so they pull apart cleanly with soft, shiny walls.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moravské koláče

In the villages of South Moravia and Wallachia, nobody gets married without a mountain of koláče: small round yeast buns with a deep hollow filled with sweetened poppy seed, vanilla quark or povidla (thick plum butter), each crowned with buttery posypka crumble. Relatives bake hundreds for the wedding and send guests home with boxes of them, and they turn up again at village fairs (pouť) and Sunday coffee. Chef's tip: press the hollow deep and wide just before filling; the dough rises again in the oven, and a shallow dip pushes the filling over the edge.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ovocné knedlíky

Ovocné knedlíky are the summer main course of Czech childhoods: in July with apricots from South Moravian orchards, in September with blue plums, eaten as lunch rather than pudding. Each soft quark dumpling hides a whole fruit that turns jammy as it simmers, and they are served the old way, rolled in melted butter and buried under grated tvaroh (quark) and icing sugar. Kids compete over who can eat the most. Chef's tip: pinch the dough completely closed with no thin patches; a single gap lets water in and the dumpling bursts in the pot.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nakuru-style sizzler

A complete barbecue meal on one big tawa: a tangy wheat and vegetable mix with three chutneys, crisp cheesy corn balls, baked stuffed capsicums and creamy cheesy pasta, all sizzling under hot barbecue sauce. Every part can be made ahead and finished on the jiko. It's a healthy and filling meal by itself.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Česnečka

Česnečka is the soup Czechs swear by after a long night in a Prague pivnice: a thin, savoury broth fragrant with raw garlic, caraway and marjoram, with soft potato cubes, crunchy fried bread and a fistful of grated cheese melting into each bowl. It costs almost nothing, comes together in half an hour and is served in workers' canteens and village pubs all winter. This version uses vegetable stock instead of the old meat bouillon. Chef's tip: crush the garlic into the bowls or add it right at the end off the heat; boiled garlic goes sweet and mild, and česnečka should bite.

30 minCzechSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kulajda

Kulajda comes from South Bohemia, the land of carp ponds and pine forests around České Budějovice and Český Krumlov, where families come home from the woods in late summer with baskets of porcini. It is a thick, pale, gently sour soup of potatoes, mushrooms, cream and plenty of dill, finished with vinegar and served with a soft poached egg floating in each bowl. It is eaten as a filling lunch on its own with a slice of rye bread. Chef's tip: add the vinegar off the heat and taste as you go; the soup should be clearly tangy but never sharp, like a good pickle brine softened by cream.

50 minCzechSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bryndzové halušky

Bryndzové halušky is Slovakia's national dish, cooked in every koliba (timber shepherd's restaurant) in the Liptov and Orava valleys and fought over each summer at the halušky-eating contest in Turecká. Little grated-potato dumplings are tossed while hot with bryndza, a tangy, spreadable sheep's cheese, and finished with a sour milk drink called žinčica. The traditional topping is crisp smoked bacon; here golden fried onions bring the same savoury crunch, and meat-eaters can add bacon on their own plates. Chef's tip: grate the potatoes at the last moment and work fast; grated potato left standing turns grey and watery and the dumplings go heavy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Coriander pesto

A quick, nutty pesto of fresh coriander, garlic and roasted peanuts, blended with peanut oil. It is dairy free and vegan, and great tossed through noodles or pasta, or drizzled over grilled vegetables.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chilli beans with pasta

A hearty, family-friendly bake of shell pasta and baked beans in a spicy tomato, ginger and garlic sauce, topped with cheddar and capsicum rings. Serve hot with garlic bread.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pasta in coconut sauce

Pasta and crisp green vegetables in a light coconut milk sauce flavoured with coriander-chilli paste, lemon and fresh basil. Fresh, gently spicy and dairy free.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Baked vegetables in coconut sauce

Mixed vegetables in a mild, creamy coconut gravy, spread over milk-soaked bread, topped with a buttery tomato sauce and cheese and baked until melting. Serve hot with naan or pitta bread.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cannelloni in tomato sauce

Cannelloni tubes filled with a gently spiced stuffing of ground peas, grated potato and carrot, baked slowly in a herby tomato sauce under a layer of cheddar. The long, gentle bake cooks the dry tubes in the sauce.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Spaghetti with kofta

An Indian twist on spaghetti and meatballs: soft paneer kofta, fried until golden, served on buttered spaghetti with a sweet and tangy tomato gravy and a sprinkle of cheese. Children love it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vegetable pie

A spiced vegetable filling of potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beans and peas with tomato, spring onion and warm cinnamon-clove, baked in a potato and bread crust and piped with a potato topping. Dotted with chilli sauce and ketchup, it makes a colourful centrepiece.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mexican pepper bake

A creamy, cheesy bake of sweetcorn, baby potatoes and spaghetti in a sauce of blended capsicum and cashews mixed with white sauce, topped with cheese and capsicum rings. Serve hot with tomato ketchup and chilli sauce.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Baked vegetables in pancakes

Thin pancakes folded around a spiced paneer and vegetable filling, baked in a garlicky tomato sauce under cheese and capsicum. Serve hot with green and mint chutneys.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Stuffed baked potatoes

Boiled potato halves scooped out and filled with a creamy, gently spiced vegetable stuffing, baked in a sweet tomato cream sauce under cheddar. Serve hot with garlic bread. For a change, fill them with fresh corn or mushrooms instead of mixed vegetables.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 24 of 32 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 1 of 2