Purse your lips and whistle yourself a lovely nostalgic tune while eating this classic Lithuanian dish: Švilpikai (not to be confused with the other type of Lithuanian whistlers, Molinukai). This recipe is from Lithuanian in the USA
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Makes: 2 portions
Ingredients dough:
400g potatoes
50g plain flour
1 small egg (or half a normal egg)
1 tbsp butter
1/4tsp salt
Ingredients sauce:
100g bacon
1 small onion
250ml double cream
5-10g fresh dill
1. Old Nostalgic Whistle Test
Peel and chop 400g of potatoes, then boil ’em, mash ’em and stick ’em in an appropriate bowl of saucepan to cool down. Once cooled add the egg, 50g of flour and 1/4tsp of salt. Mix together until it makes a smooth dough
Preheat the oven to 200°C and roll out half of the dough onto a (very heavily) floured surface into a long sausage
Cut this dough on the diagonal to make rough diamond (or Jamie) shapes
Place the diamonds on a baking tray on baking paper and brush some of the melted butter on top (if you’ve used half an egg you can use the other half for glazing) and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes on the other side until golden brown
2. Awesome sauce
While the whistles are in the oven, get started on the sauce. Finely dice your onion and 100g of bacon and add to a saucepan with a little oil until it is softened and fragrant
Chop the dill and add this to the pan with 250ml of double cream and a good pinch of black pepper. Cook over a medium heat until it starts to thicken
Once your whistles are baked, take them off the sheet and tip them right into the sauce, mix together so they are fully coated.
Top the dish with more dill if you so wish!
Dink and sink!
Food for Thought
Lizzy says: “Kate has had these locked and loaded to gasp for a long long time, and I was very dubious about making it them – not least because of the name, what even is a whistle? This was such a fantastic recipe though, even if we made it in completely the wrong season; I can imagine this recipe will get me through winter next year. It was really easy and fun to make the whistles and the sweet, creamy potatoey end result was the perfect comfort food 10/10 “
Kate says: “During a brief cooler period between heatwaves we tried out this dish which has been on my to gasp list for an eternity. Although not particularly seasonally apt, these were still completely delicious. Fluffy with a little chew in a creamy herby sauce – yes please and thank you. I can’t wait to make these again on a cold winter’s day 10/10“
10/10 Gasps
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