Vetkoek with mince

Woolworths is committed to sustainability via our good business journey. Seasonal (and other) products might not always be in stock.

This is a pretty standard vetkoek recipe, for those who may have missed it the first thousand times! They're the best with this savoury mince, but just as awesome served warm with jam and butter.

Ingredients

For the vetkoek:
500 g cake flour
10 g instant dry yeast
3 T brown sugar
1 t salt
3 T canola oil, plus extra for frying
Approx. 2 ½ cups lukewarm water
sliced tomatoes, for serving
pickled red onion, for serving
parsley, for serving
For the mince:
4 T canola oil
500 g lean beef mince
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig thyme
30 g red pepper, chopped
30 g green pepper, chopped
50 g tomato paste
1 x 400 g can diced tomatoes
1 T brown sugar

Cooking Instructions

1. To make the vetkoek, place all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Pour the canola oil into two cups of lukewarm water, saving an extra cup in case the dough gets too dry whilst kneading.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually stir in the water mixture using your fingers. Work the mixture into a dough and knead until soft and pliable.

5. Clean the bowl and coat the inside with oil, then add the dough and cover with a clean tea towel. Allow to prove somewhere warm for 30–40 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

6. Flatten the dough to a thickness of 2 cm.

7. Cut into medium squares. This part needn't be perfect!

8. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. To check whether it’s hot, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. If it sizzles immediately, the oil is ready. Fry the vetkoek until golden brown, turning often. Drain on kitchen paper.

9. To make the mince, heat the oil in a nonstick pan. Fry the mince in batches until brown, season and set aside. In the same pan, fry the onion, garlic, thyme and peppers until soft. Stir in the tomato paste, diced tomatoes and mince. Add the sugar and more seasoning if needed. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the tomatoes have reduced and thickened.

10. Slice the vetkoek and fill with mince, sliced tomatoes, pickled red onion and parsley.

Find more bread recipes here.

Photographs: Jan Ras
Production: Khanya Mzongwana
Food assistant: Ellah Maepa