Roasted potato dumplings with 'Zugabe'

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 8 potato dumplings
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 m.-large shallot(s)
• 200 g bacon or breakfast bacon
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 1 handful of fresh basil
• 10 g thyme, dried
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 1 handful of chives
• 1 pinch(s) of coarse sea salt
• Parmesan, grated
• olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Potato dumplings also as leftovers

For the main course, allow 2 medium-sized dumplings per person. Cook potato dumplings made from dough according to the recipe or use frozen ready-made dumplings until tender and allow to cool. Then refrigerate for a good 1 hour. It is recommended that you wrap each dumpling tightly in cling film to firm them up. In the meantime, finely chop the shallots, cut the not too fatty bacon or ham into cubes of about 5 mm, and finely chop the parsley and basil. After 1 hour, heat a sufficiently large pan with a little vegetable oil and butter and let the shallots cook gently. Add the bacon cubes and fry briefly. Unwrap the dumplings, cut into slices no more than 10 mm thick, and place them on the pan at about 2/3 heat and fry slowly, pressing lightly with a ladle occasionally. After 5 minutes at medium heat, continue frying until the whole thing is firm enough on the underside to be turned in one piece. Don’t turn the pan over at this point, but sprinkle the parsley and basil over it, press it down lightly, and continue roasting for another 3-4 minutes. Keep it warm. Keeping it hot is better! Grate plenty of Parmesan cheese and spread it evenly over the dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil, scatter some thyme around the edge of the pan, add one or two sprigs of rosemary, and place it in the preheated oven. Roast for another 5 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Then divide the potatoes into portions using a wooden spoon and serve on warmed plates, which have been lightly sprinkled with coarse sea salt and chives. Garnish with pickled gherkins, tomato slices, green peppers, etc., if desired. Important: Do not add salt or pepper during this process. Salt draws moisture out of the potato dough, which would hinder roasting, and pepper should only be added shortly before cooking or frying. Of course, this recipe can be adapted in any way, but these should always be limited to ingredients that can withstand roasting and are preferably not wet or creamy. Herbs can, of course, be used or omitted as desired. It goes well with ratatouille or simply creamed horseradish (horseradish sauce), or a spicy yogurt dip. A crisp salad also works well – and I pair it with a cool blonde beer.