Pelmeni

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 750 g wheat flour type 550 and flour for dusting
• ¼ tsp salt
• 7 eggs, size M
• 1 kg minced pork
• 1 large onion(s)
• 3 eggs, size M
• e.g. breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• 125 g butter
• Water
• Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Russian recipe

Dough: Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk. Add the flour and salt to a bowl. Now add the eggs to the flour and knead everything into a smooth dough. If the dough is too wet/sticky, carefully add a little more flour until the desired consistency is reached. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes (in the meantime, you can prepare the filling). Then, roll out the dough on a floured surface (approx. 60 x 60 cm). If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, dust it with a little flour. Once the dough is rolled out, use a cup (approx. 10 cm in diameter) to cut out circular shapes from the dough and set them aside on a floured surface. Knead the remaining dough again, roll it out, and cut out shapes (and so on). Alternatively, you can shape the leftover dough into noodles and use them as a filling for a soup. Filling: Peel and finely dice the onion. Place the meat in a bowl, add the diced onion, eggs, breadcrumbs (optional), salt, and pepper (to taste), and knead everything thoroughly. If the mixture is too wet, just add a little more breadcrumbs until you reach a nice, malleable consistency. Further preparation: Now it’s time to shape the pelmeni. To do this, place a heaped teaspoon of the filling in the center of a dough circle, shape the dough into a pocket around the filling, and press the outer edges together to seal. Repeat this process with the other dough circles until you have used up all the filling. The finished pelmeni should be stored on a floured surface to prevent them from sticking and tearing when picked up. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and carefully lower 10-12 pelmeni at a time into the boiling water, preferably using a slotted spoon. After about 10-12 minutes of cooking time, the pelmeni are cooked and can be removed from the pot to make room for the next batch. The cooked pelmeni are placed in a bowl. Finally, melt the butter in a saucepan, let it brown, and pour it over the finished pelmeni. The dish is now ready to serve. If desired, you can add a little ketchup. This amount of ingredients makes about 40 pelmeni, depending on the size. The pelmeni are also delicious cold. Leftover pelmeni can also be served the next day, warmed up normally or fried in a pan with a little fat. This recipe comes from my grandmother Inge, who learned it from Russian women in the occupied zones after World War II. It was then passed on to me by my mother. The authenticity of the recipe has also been confirmed by friends who worked on the “Drushba Route” in the former USSR in the 1970s and 1980s.