Rosa Cooking

VASILICA - ritual bread for the Serbian New Year

The Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates three great holidays on January 1, according to the Julian calendar - on January 14, according to the Gregorian calendar: the memory of Saint Basil the Great, Little Christmas and the Serbian New Year. On that day, ritual bread is kneaded - Vasilica. There are different recipes for Vasilica and they are usually of a local character. This recipe is basically a recipe for Christmas Garlic (a puff pastry that I coat with fat), except that I fill Vasilica with cheese, so that our year is rich and I coat it with honey, so that our year is sweet and happy. No money is put in it.

Preparation steps

  • Put the yeast to rise with half a teaspoon of sugar and flour in 50ml of warm water. In 250g of flour, add the yeast, 250ml of warm water, gradually add the rest of the flour (about 250g), and knead until you get a nice and elastic dough that does not stick to your hands. Leave the dough on warm to double.
  • Stir in the dough. Spread it on a floured surface in the shape of a rectangle about 1cm thick or thinner, about 40x45cm in size. Coat with grease, sparing the edges. Fold the right third over the middle part, then the left over it. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat the process, right third over the middle, then left over it. Press it in several places with a rolling pin (for easier thinning and squeezing out of the air) and part it again by repeating the process of lubrication and folding 2 more times. If the fat starts to break during thinning through the dough caps, great, because the surface will be crispier and more rustic. Just sprinkle that place with flour. Every time you thin it, it becomes more and more messy and you can stretch it less and less (that's how it should be).
  • After the third spread and overlapping, spread it and do not grease it, but sprinkle pieces of cheese in the middle of the dough. If you want a round Basil, then slowly fold the dough over the center and sprinkle a little cheese over each new fold. Let the last fold close the entire surface. Underline your palms under Vasilica, turn it over and lower it into a greased round tray measuring about 26 cm in diameter. Its size is about 20cm. Leave Vasilica to rest for about 30 minutes.
  • If you want a cubed variant, then sprinkle the cheese in the middle, and fold as when you developed it, and before each fold, sprinkle the surface underneath with grated cheese.
  • Before placing in the oven, put a couple of teaspoons of fat over it. Bake on a wire under the middle of the oven at 220 degrees for about 40 minutes, reduce to 160 and bake for another 20 minutes. Coat the hot with honey that you have dissolved with a little hot water. Do not overdo it with honey, the contrast of sweet and salty will be too great. If you want a bigger Vasilica, increase the amount of water from 250 to 350 ml and the amount of yeast from 20 to 30 g, so it will draw more flour.