Pelmeni

I was looking for a tortellini recipe, found one for pelmeni, and ended up making something closer to ravioli. Still, what came out was delicious.

Pelmeni are little dumplings that come from Russia, or more precisely from Siberia. They can be eaten on their own or added to soups. The dough is traditionally made from flour, egg, water and salt. I wanted to avoid the egg, though, so I made my homemade pasta dough.

pelmeni

Pelmeni have a meat filling made with ground meat, pretty much any kind, really. The filling is "sealed" between two rounds of dough that are stuck together, and then the pelmeni are cooked in broth. The principle is basically the same as with pierogi (Polish dumplings), tortellini, uszka (tiny "little ears" dumplings, traditionally served in barszcz) and other similar dishes.

As far as I know, pelmeni are served with sour cream, or with butter and vinegar (or without the vinegar), or with a mixture of garlic, onion, salt, pepper and vinegar. I served mine with onion sautéed in butter until nicely browned, which suited me very well. I also tried the sour cream version and I recommend it too. I didn't dare try the vinegar mixture. You can also use the liquid the pelmeni were cooked in. Pour a tablespoon of the cooking liquid into a deep plate, add a little broth, and place the pelmeni on top of that mixture. That's how the author of the recipe recommends it as well.

The recipe comes from chefkoch.de

pelmeni

Ingredients:

Dough for homemade pasta, or any pasta dough made with egg and a little salt

Filling:

• 250 g any ground meat (I had a mixed beef and pork blend)
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• a large pinch of hot paprika powder
• ½ cup hot water
• ½ cup heavy cream

For cooking:

• 10 peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf

pelmeni

Peel and finely chop the onion. Mix all the filling ingredients together (the meat should be raw).

Make the pasta dough and roll it out thinly. There are a few ways to fill the pelmeni. You can first cut out rounds (mine were squares), put half a teaspoon of filling on each, cover with a second round and press them together well. You can also place the filling at intervals on a sheet of rolled-out dough, cover it with a second sheet, and then cut out and seal the dumplings. The third method is like making uszka: cut out rounds of dough, add the filling, fold the round in half, seal it and join the two corners together. Any method works. I chose square, ravioli-style ones. Place the finished pelmeni on a board dusted with flour so they don't stick.
Bring 2 liters of water to a boil with the peppercorns and bay leaf. You can also add half an onion if you like. Drop the pelmeni into the boiling water in batches and cook for about 15 minutes in gently bubbling water. Drain and serve as I described in the intro. I served mine with onion browned in butter.

Enjoy!