Lithuanian Cheese Dumplings Recipes

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the cheese, farina, potato starch, egg and salt. I first stir with a spoon, but then knead it right in the bowl with my hand, to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed. Cover and let it stand while you make the filling. (Letting it stand about 10 or 15 minutes lets the farina hydrate and I think makes the dough hold together better).
• Saute the onion in the oil in a small saucepan until translucent.
• Add to the remaining filling ingredients in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly.
• Divide into four portions and form into small sausage shapes. Cover.
• Sprinkle two or three tablespoons of potato starch onto a large plate and set aside.
• Fill 2 or 3 quart saucepan with water, add salt, and bring to a boil while making the dumplings.
• Divide the dough into four portions - I do this right in the bowl, just cutting through it with a knife.
• Dampen your hands with cool water before forming each dumpling. Take one portion of the dough and flatten it on the palm of one hand into an oval.
• Place on portion of the filling onto the dough and form the dough around it into an oval shape - it's important to make the exterior very smooth, without any cracks or seams - this will keep them dumplings from splitting as they cook.
• Place the dumpling onto the potato-starch-sprinkled plate and roll it around to dredge in the starch.
• Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• When they are all done, carefully place each dumpling into the pot of boiling water. They should fit without crowding or overlapping. If there is any potato starch left on the plate, just scrape it right into the water, as well.
• Let the water return to a boil and reduce it to a slow boil - more than a simmer, but not a full out boil.
• Cook for about 10 minutes after it returns to a boil.
• While these cook, make the sauce.
• Chop the bacon and saute it in a small saucepan.
• As it starts to get translucent, add the mushrooms and butter, and saute until cooked through.
• Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon, plate and cover with sauce.
• Note1: "Varske" is what we call farmers' cheese in Lithuanian. Tvarog is widely available in many places and is essentially the same. You want to use one that is whole milk or made from not less than 2% milk. Leaner cheese will not hold together as well - probably you would need more potato starch.
• Note2: The mushrooms are not traditional in the sauce, but I like them, and that way I am not using as much bacon. However, you can serve with just melted butter and sour cream, or any similar sauce that you might have in your files. To reduce calories, you can just saute some mushrooms and perhaps have a little sour cream on the side.
• Note3: I've made this with both ground beef and ground pork. I intend to make a cheese filling also, and I think a mushroom filling would also be very good, if you want to keep this vegetarian.
• Note on Servings: We will eat two each, with that making up our entire meal. If you serve with soup, some veggies, etc., in a more usual fashion, you can probably serve 3 or 4 people.
• Cheese filling: Take about 4 ounces of the farmers' cheese and place in a small bowl. Add the minced green top of one scallion, a pinch of salt and about 1 tbl of cooked minced bacon (I just take from the sauce). You might need a little of the bacon grease to help mix it together. Minced mint or tarragon is traditional, but I had none. I mixed it well and divided into six sections. I then divided the dough into six sections. Cheese filled dumplings are traditionally smaller. Make then as above, but form them into round balls - again, the shape is traditional when using a cheese filling. They will take a minute or two less to cook.

Steps:

• Divide the potatoes into 2 batches. Chop one batch into large chunks and boil for 15-20 mins until tender, then drain and mash. Finely grate the remaining potatoes using the smallest blade on a grater and tip into a large bowl lined with a clean tea towel. Bring the edges of the tea towel together and squeeze tightly to expel any liquid; keep 2 tbsp of this juice and discard the rest. In another large mixing bowl, add the reserved potato juice, the grated potato, mashed potato and half of the beaten egg. Beat everything together well, season, set aside to cool, then chill while you prepare the filling.
• Mix together the shallot, pork mince, caraway seeds, garlic, remaining egg and some seasoning.
• Mix 1 tbsp of flour into your potato mixture and divide into 8. Dust the work surface with flour and make sure there is flour on your hands too, as the mixture can be quite sticky. Lightly shape the potato dough into flat round patties, approximately 1cm thick. Put 1 heaped tsp of the pork filling in the middle of each patty, then gently pull the dough up and around to encase the pork and form a dumpling. Roll them in your hands to achieve the signature zeppelin shape. Repeat with the rest of the patties and filling.
• Bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Carefully lower in the dumplings, cover and simmer gently for 30 mins. Keep an eye on this - the water must not boil or the dumplings won't hold their shape.
• Meanwhile, grill the bacon until crisp, then chop into very small pieces and set aside. To make the sauce, pour 100ml of boiling water over the dried porcini and leave to stand for 5 mins. In a saucepan, heat the butter and add the shallots, frying gently until they are soft and translucent. Add the chestnut mushrooms and cook for 5 mins more. When they are cooked, pour in 1 tbsp of the liquor from the porcini and discard the rest. Chop the porcini and add them to the pan. Fold in the crème fraîche, bring to a simmer, then season.
• Put 2 dumplings on each plate and pour over the mushroom sauce. Sprinkle the dill and bacon pieces over just before serving with green veg and crusty bread to mop up the sauce.