Scenes of Scotland and Pelmeni Recipe {Russian Meat Dumplings}

The coffee aroma spread through the whole apartment. I was sitting in the kitchen with a hot, freshly brewed coffee in my hands. 

I felt so calm. So blissful.

 

I always feel this way when my mom sits next to me. It doesn’t happen often enough so I try to soak up every moment of it.

Every time I visit her, I look forward to eat familiar meals from my childhood, the way only she can cook. One of the meals I request every single time is pelmeni- meat dumplings.

Meat dumplings have been one of our family favourite for a very long time. I still remember my mom and grandmother standing in the kitchen and making hundreds of them by hand. They would freeze them and when there was no time to cook, they would pull out the dumplings from the freezer and minutes later we had a dinner on our table.

And now I do the same. The only difference, I don’t make them by hand but use a mold.

That saves a lot of time for sure.

Pelmeni {Russian Meat Dumplins}

                                                                                                                                                Print this recipe

Prep time: up to 1 hour plus 30 min to freeze

Cooking time: 8-15 min

Makes : approx. 100

Ingredients:

For dough:

400 g all-purpose flour

1 large egg, beaten

2/3 cup of cold water

½ tsp sea salt

For filling:

500 g ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed

Salt, pepper to taste

Method:

To make the dough, place flour and salt in a large bowl; make deep well in the centre then drop in egg and water. Carefully mix flour mix and liquid ingredients together.

Transfer the dough on the lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Cover with cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes.

To make the filling, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

To assemble the dumpling using mold:

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Keep 3 parts covered with cling film or damp towel while working with the first one.

On the lightly floured surface roll out 1 part of the dough, about 1.5-2 mm thick. Then drape the rolled out dough over the mold and fill each hole with ½-1 tsp of filling.

Roll out second part of the dough and cover the meat filling, then using rolling pin roll the top until the pelmeni are formed. 

To release the pelmeni, take the mold and pound it couple of times. Arrange the pelmeni on the well floured board and put it to the freezer for 30 minutes, then transfer to the ziploc bag and put it back to the freezer. The pelmeni can be stored for up to 3 month.

To make pelmeni by hand, on the floured surface thinly roll out the dough. Using cookie cutter or glass, about 5 cm in diameter, cut out circles. Place about ½ - 1 tsp of filling onto the circle. Fold into half-moon and pinch the edges together to seal then bring two ends and pinch them together.

To cook pelmeni, in a large pan bring plenty of well seasoned water to a boil. Carefully drop 20-30 pelmeni in and cook for about 10 minutes or until they rise to the surface of the water. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

With a slotted spoon remove the pelmeni from the water and place into large bowl. Serve with butter, sour-cream or vinegar.