Tepertős pogácsa- Hungarian savoury scones

Tepertős pogácsa is very typical and traditional Hungarian snack. It is basically a savoury scone which is made with roasted pork rind, which for some of you could sound a little bit strange. That is why I was a little bit hesitating involving this recipe on the blog. And maybe I am not objective in this case but I must say it is too good to not to write about it…and maybe you will give a try after reading my post and I am sure you won’t regret it!
I was going through the hand-written recipe book I inherited from my grandma (my father’s mother) and I stopped by tepertős pogácsa. It is a recipe which requires a good amount of work with the dough because it needs rolling and folding and resting time, so it becomes fluffy and light. I like challenges and this recipe definitely seemed to be a challenge. On the other hand this is very typical Hungarian snack to take with you when you are travelling and we will be on the way in a couple of days so it will be great to take some with us.
We have finished apple and pear harvest, I planted pansies into pots and placed them on stairs and on windows sills so we have some colours even in darker days and we are continuously and diligently raking leaves which fall in a huge amount from our eighteen fruit trees. After so many nice and sunny autumn days today it is very windy and cold, it shakes our shutters and the wind bell at the front door, so we continuously hear its strange but beautiful music. It is definitely the day when we need a mood-booster.
My grandmother intended to write down the recipe carefully and precisely but as grandmothers used to be she was generous with some of the amount of ingredients since she knew it by experience. Fortunately I could find out how much “necessary amount of milk” meant to be but I was too cautious with salt, so according to my experience you will find the corrected recipe below.
I must say preparing tepertős pogácsa is a big adventure but it will also require your patience. Please do not start it when you are very hungry! Rolling, folding, resting – and doing this three times is like meditation. I love yeasted doughs- I love the smell, the texture, the way it transforms during kneading and resting- so this is a recipe for me, I can enjoy working with the dough during this more than 2 hour process.

After I put the baking pan into the oven, I am squatting in front of the oven door as if it would help me to find out whether I set the right temperature. My grandmother said “bake it at good fire” which is difficult to set with our old gas oven. But fortunately pogácsa comes out light brown, fluffy and light as it has to be. What else can I wish? Maybe a cup of hot tea, the warmth of our tile stove and a warm blanket…

Tepertős pogácsa (Savoury scones with roasted pork rind)
Ingredients
500 g flour
30 g fresh yeast
150 ml lukewarm milk
100 ml sour cream
350 g minced roasted pork rind
2-3 tbsp white wine
100 g soft butter
2 kk. salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg for egg-wash

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 100 ml lukewarm milk and let it rise for 5 minutes. Mix flour with salt, add yeasted milk, the rest of milk, wine, sour cream, butter and knead it to a soft and flexible dough. Roll it to 1 cm thick and brush the dough with the minced pork rind. Roll it up, push it down with the rolling pin a little bit, then fold it over, like a book. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then roll it again until 1 cm thick, roll it up, fold it over and let it rest again for 30 minutes. After the third round of rolling and folding let it rest again for half an hour and preheat oven to 200 degrees. This process helps the dough to be fluffy and light. Roll the dough again until 2 cm thick and scratch the top with a knife diagonally. Cut circles with a 4.5 cm cutter and place them on a baking sheet. Brush the top with the egg and bake them until risen and brown (approximately 15 minutes) After cutting you will have some rest of dough, knead the pieces together, and use it as first.