Cottage Cheese Pie with Poppy Seeds

Make the dough. Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Grate the butter on a coarse grater into the same bowl, then rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until crumbly.

Set aside one quarter of the crumble mixture in a separate bowl. Add 5–6 tbsp of cold water to the remaining crumble and bring the dough together into a ball.

On a work surface, roll the dough out into a circle 4–5 cm larger than your baking pan (I used a 22 cm diameter pan). Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and transfer it to the pan, smoothing it into place. Refrigerate both the pan with the dough and the reserved crumble for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the poppy seed filling. Grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder or food processor (if using a food processor, add a little milk to help the poppy seeds blend more easily).

Transfer the ground poppy seeds to a heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in the milk, and add the sugar. Cook over low heat for 5–10 minutes, stirring constantly.

The poppy seeds should be well-softened and fully absorbed all the milk by the end (the mixture will be thick).

Let the poppy seed mixture cool, then stir in the egg and starch and mix well.

For the cottage cheese filling — combine all the ingredients in one bowl and beat until completely smooth.

Add finely chopped nuts to the reserved crumble (if using almonds, blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes, peel off the skins, and chop finely).

Assemble the pie. Remove the pan with the dough from the refrigerator and spoon the poppy seed filling in a ring shape, as shown in the photo.

Spoon the cottage cheese filling on top, filling in all the gaps and covering the poppy seed ring.

Evenly sprinkle the nutty crumble over the top. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 40–50 minutes.

Let the finished pie cool completely.

Serve the cottage cheese pie with poppy seeds alongside your favorite drinks.