These dumplings I discovered and ate far too many of while on a year abroad in Russia. They are a labour of love to make, but great things to keep in the freezer and whip out at short notice.
In Russia, the meat version are called pel’meni (пельмени). If you buy them pre-made, they are often dubiously labelled as containing ‘meat’, which I consider reason enough to make your own! The vegetarian version however are more commonly referred to as vareniki (вареники).
I have not stuck to traditional fillings, particularly in the vegetarian case so to avoid the wrath of the internet purists, I will refer to these simply as Russian dumplings!
Note: This is calculated to make a very large batch of 50:50 meat and vegetarian dumplings, but you can easily scale the recipe to make more or less of either.
Pelmeni & Vareniki
Russian dumplings in two styles, one vegetarian, one meat. Make in a big batch and freeze.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 150 ml buttermilk
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 500 ml water
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1400 g flour
For the veggie filling
- 40 g butter
- 500 g spinach
- 400 g cottage cheese
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 2 eggs
For the meat filling
- 250 g turkey breast finely diced (turkey mince is also fine, but I prefer the texture of slightly chunkier pieces)
- 250 g pork mince
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp tabasco or other hot sauce or more to taste
To serve
- 1 dollop per person sour cream
- black pepper
- 1 sprig dill
Instructions
Dough recipe
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In a bowl, add all of the ingredients except the flour. Whisk gently to combine the ingredients. Transfer to an electric mixer.
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With a dough hook attachment and the electric mixer on low speed, add the flour gradually and knead until the dough has formed a smooth paste. The dough should not feel too dry but not be tacky. Keep adding flour until the dough is at the desired consistency.
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Cover the dough with clingfilm and rest in the fridge while you prepare the fillings.
Veggie filling
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Wash and dry the spinach. Chop into 1 cm strips.
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Heat the butter in a medium frying pan pan and lightly fry the crushed garlic.
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Just before the garlic browns, add the spinach and wilt lightly. Season to taste with salt and nutmeg.
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Remove the spinach from the heat and drain off excess liquid in a colander. When the spinach has cooled sufficiently, lightly squeeze it to remove excess water. Add the cottage cheese and set aside to cool.
Meat filling
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Heat oil in a medium frying pan. Fry the onion for a couple of minutes until starting to golden. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. Set aside and allow to cool.
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Mix all other ingredients together in a bowl and add onions when cool.
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Take a small piece of filling and fry it quickly to test the seasoning. Adjust if necessary. I make mine slightly on the saltier side as they seem less salty when boiled and usually add a lot of hot sauce.
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Place filling in the fridge
Fill and shape
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We will prepare the dough in four batches to prevent it drying out. Two will become vegetarian and two will become meat. Flour the work surface. Slice the rested dough into four portions. Return 3 to the fridge under cover. On the floured surface, roll out the dough as thin as you can get it (in my experience it's quite an elastic dough so it defaults to a minimum of a couple of millimetres thick).
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Prepare the vegetarian dumplings first. By now, your vegetarian filling should be nice and cool.
Vegetarian dumplings
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Cut 7.5 cm disks out from the dough.
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Place approx 1 tsp filling in the centre of the circle.
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With your fingers, work gently around the edge of the semicircle, pinching gently all the way around and making sure the dumpling is filled very tight. The resulting shape should be a semicircle. Repeat until the dough quarter is used up.
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Place the finished dumplings on a floured baking tray and place in the freezer.
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Repeat with another quarter of the dough.
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Move onto the meat dumplings.
Non-vegetarian dumplings
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Cut 5cm disks out from the dough
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Place approx 1/2 tsp filling in the centre of the circle.
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With your fingers, press into a semi-circle. Then, bend the points of the semi-circle back on one another to form a dumpling of this shape:
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Freeze on a floured baking tray as before.
Applies to all dumplings
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When the dumplings are lightly frozen, transfer to freezer bags.
Cooking instructions
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Dumplings are cooked from frozen. Bring salted water to the boil. When the water is at a rolling boil, add your dumplings with a small cup of water. Dumplings are usually ready when the water returns to the boil and they start floating on the top of the water (somewhere between 5-8 minutes).
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Serve in a bowl with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dill.
Recipe Notes
Note the different sized cutters and folding styles for the vegetarian and meat dumplings.
You can also make either meat or vegetarian dumplings by halving the ingredients for the dough and making a half batch.
Beware - large batch - you will be eating these babies for a while!