Tiny mushroom-filled dumplings ('little ears') served in clear red borscht. A Christmas Eve essential — the dumplings are small enough to eat in one bite.
Uszka ('little ears') are the Polish Christmas Eve equivalent of tortellini — tiny dumplings served in barszcz (clear red beet broth). The shape is distinctive: a half-moon wrapped around the finger to create a ring. The filling is always dried mushrooms and onion, matching the meatless Wigilia tradition.
A bowl of deep red, crystal-clear borscht with tiny mushroom dumplings floating throughout. Each uszko is one bite — a burst of earthy mushroom filling in a tender wrapper, bathed in the beet's sweet-sour broth.
Uszka's tiny size requires a very thin dough — thicker dough would be chewy and disproportionate to the filling. The mushroom filling must be intensely flavored (dried mushrooms rehydrated and sautéed with onion) because each dumpling contains only a teaspoon. The borscht broth provides the primary liquid flavor.
Variations
Some versions add sauerkraut to the mushroom filling; the shape varies slightly by family tradition.
On the Palate
Where Uszka sits in the Polish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
6 steps · 1 hour 30 min active + 30 min waiting
- 160 min
Soak dried mushrooms; chop finely; sauté with onion.
Watch outSauté the mushrooms and onion until the pan goes dry and smells deeply savory — since each dumpling holds only a teaspoon, the filling must carry all the flavor.
- 220 min
Make thin dough: flour + water + salt.
- 310 min
Roll very thin; cut into small squares (~5cm).
Watch outRoll the dough until you can nearly see through it — thick dough turns these tiny dumplings chewy and out of proportion to the filling.
- 420 min
Place a teaspoon of filling in each; fold into a triangle; wrap around finger to form a ring.
- 53 min
Boil gently until they float (~2 min).
Watch outThey're ready seconds after they float — overcooked, the thin dough goes slack and tears.
- 61 min
Serve in hot clear barszcz (red beet broth).
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