Paprikás kattancs is a folded milk loaf, which is spread with oil and sprinkled with salt and paprika. It was a gastronomic speciality of peasant society in Gúta, a small Hungarian inhabited settlement in Slovakia, near the Hungarian border. Kattancs used to be eaten with soups, especially bean soup, and mainly on Saturdays. The 200 year-old recipe of kattancs was brought to Békés county after World War II, during the Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange, when farming families from Gúta were forcibly transferred to South-Eastern Hungary.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 500 g (~4 cups) flour
- 40 g (~1 1/2 oz) lard
- 10 g (~2/3 tbsp) salt
- 10 g (~2/3 tbsp) sugar
- 25 g (~3/4 oz) fresh yeast (2 tsp dry yeast)
- 350 ml (~1 1/2 cups) milk
For the filling:
- 4 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp sweet paprika powder
- salt
Dissolve yeast and sugar in lukewarm milk.
In a bowl combine flour and salt, then rub in lard. Pour in the yeast – milk mixture, and with the kneading hooks of a mixer knead the dough until soft and pliable. Cover and leave it to rest for 30 minutes.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and flatten it with your hands into a 1-1,5 cm / 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Spread 2 tablespoons of oil on the top. Sprinkle salt and 2 tablespoons of paprika over it. Fold 1/4 of the dough to the middle both on the left and right side.
Spread 1 tablespoon of oil on the dough again, then sprinkle salt and paprika over it. Fold the bottom third of the dough to the centre, then fold the upper third over that. Turn the dough upside down and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of oil and let it rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 392°F and bake the pastry for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
