Easy Hungarian Cottage Cheese Strudel (Túrós Rétes)

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1. 1Step 1: Soak the raisins in the water and clean them.
2. 2Step 2: In a medium bowl, mix 3 eggs with the brown sugar, then add cottage cheese, lemon zest and juice, 2 heaping tablespoons sour cream and finally the cleaned raisins. The filling should be runny, not solid. Set it aside.
3. 3Step 3: Whisk the remaining egg in a cup and mix it with 1 heaping tablespoon of sour cream. This will be the last layer of the strudel. Set it aside.
4. 4Step 4: Preheat the oven to 175°C (347°F). Grease the baking tray with melted fat (not all of it) and set aside. I used a 20×30 cm baking dish. You can make it in a bigger one; in that case, you might need more fat for greasing, and the cottage cheese layer won’t be as thick as this one.
5. 5Step 5: Lay the dry dish towel on your worktop, roll out the phyllo sheets, and cover them with the wet dish towel.
6. 6Step 6: Uncover the sheets and cut them to fit the baking dish. It won’t be a problem if it’s slightly larger or if the sheets rip; everything will be fine in the oven. You can create layers from the pieces as well.
7. 7Step 7: I had 8 sheets: 4 for the bottom and 4 for the cover. Place the 1st layer in the baking tray (after removing the sheet, cover the remaining phyllo sheets with a dish towel), grease it with the melted fat, and repeat with the remaining 3 sheets.
8. 8Step 8: Now it’s time for the cottage cheese filling, pour it on the top of the 4 sheets.
9. 9Step 9: Let’s place the remaining phyllo sheets. One-layer sheet: grease it with fat, then repeat.
10. 10Step 10: Cover the top with the egg and sour cream mixture.
11. 11Step 11: Place it into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown. The top will rise a bit, but it will be flat after removing it from the oven.
12. 12Step 12: Wait an hour, then dust with powdered sugar. It’s ready to serve. It’s good when it’s lukewarm; you don’t have to wait until it’s cold.