Strawberry and Rhubarb Pastries

For this dough, both smooth cottage cheese and cottage cheese mass without filling will work, as well as homemade cottage cheese. I use homemade cottage cheese with high fat content. If you have the same kind of cottage cheese as me, you should strain it through a sieve or mash it well with a fork. If it's smooth - just mix it with the following ingredients.

Beat the prepared cottage cheese with eggs, sugar, and sour cream. Any fat content of the sour cream will do (I use homemade sour cream with high fat content).

Sift flour together with salt and baking powder into the homogeneous cottage cheese mixture. Mix it well with a mixer or simply with a spoon.

Next, you need to slightly knead the dough with your hands until it becomes smooth and uniform in texture. While preparing the filling, you can put the dough in the refrigerator. If the filling is prepared in advance, there is no need to keep the dough cold.

For the filling, you need to take equal proportions of rhubarb and strawberries. Wash the rhubarb and remove the tough skin. It easily comes off in strips. Cut the peeled rhubarb into cubes no larger than 1 cm.

Transfer the chopped rhubarb to a saucepan, add water and sugar. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the rhubarb becomes soft and releases its juice. Drain the excess liquid and let the filling cool.

Rinse the strawberries, pat them dry, remove the stems, and cut into 1x1 cm cubes.

In a bowl, mix together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch. If the strawberries are tart, increase the amount of sugar. You can replace cornstarch with potato starch, there is no significant difference.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5 mm. Cut circles approximately 10-12 cm in diameter using a small dish or cup (I used a 12 cm diameter).

Place a tablespoon of sweet filling on each dough circle. Pinch the edges together and place seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Whisk the egg yolk with a drop of water and brush the pastries with it. You can also cover the pastries with beaten egg, in which case you don't need to add water. Bake the pastries in a preheated 180°C oven for 20-25 minutes. They will increase in size and turn golden brown. Since we place the pastries seam side down, the filling may leak, so I remind you once again to pinch the edges of the pastry securely.

These pastries are very fragrant, and the tender cottage cheese dough keeps them from becoming stale for a long time.