Very marked by Italian cuisine, Slovenian cuisine gives pride of place to polenta, this semolina made from corn flour. It is served either as a main course or as an accompaniment to meat or fish. For 4 people, count about 250 g of polenta. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring 1.2 liters of water to a boil with 1 teaspoon of fine salt. Pour the polenta in rain while mixing energetically. Lower the heat as soon as the mixture boils and continue cooking over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for the time indicated on the packet. The polenta is done when it pulls away from the edges of the pan. You can serve it as a puree or spread it on a plate and let it cool. You will then cut it into patties, which you can reheat in the pan or in the oven.
These small puff pastries with fresh cheese are served lukewarm, as a dessert. Mix 500 g of cream cheese with 1 whole egg. Add 2 tablespoons of wheat semolina, 50 cl of liquid cream, 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar and the small grains of a vanilla pod. Garnish 3 sheets of filo pasta laid on top of each other with this preparation and roll the dough into a large tube. Then wrap the tubes in aluminum foil. Cook for 25 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Remove the aluminum foil and let the roll cool before cutting it into slices.
Potica is the most famous Slovenian dessert:it is a rolled cake filled with walnuts and hazelnuts. To prepare it, mix 20 g of baker's yeast in 4 tablespoons of lukewarm milk. In another container, mix 125 g of butter with 250 g of flour. Add the diluted yeast, 1 egg yolk, 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, 30 g of sugar and 1 pinch of salt. Knead for a long time to obtain a homogeneous paste. Then prepare the filling:mix 30 g soft butter with 1 egg yolk and 125 g sugar. Then add 2 tablespoons of fresh cream, 4 tablespoons of milk, 100 g of ground walnuts and 2 beaten egg whites. Spread the dough and then the filling on top. Roll up the cake and put it in a large dish. Leave to stand for 3 hours then cook in the oven for 45 at 180°C.
