This is another classic from back home. Hearty dumplings that are super tasty and filling. I used to love these little meat-filled tortellini. They can be eaten in various ways from simply boiled and topped with soured cream to boiled and then pan-fried or even straight up deep-fried. They can be enjoyed dry or with some of the cooking liquid as a kind of light soup. Most of the time they’re eaten with soured cream, but sometimes people also like them with mayo. I like mine boiled with bay leaf and a splash of vinegar and then topped with plenty of soured cream and dill.
We never used to make them at home because they were readily available in shops. Since I moved to the UK, I have not had that luxury, so I kind of forgot all about them. Recently I was craving some meat and pasta and pelmeni came to mind. I had never even attempted making them, so it was a great opportunity to create another recipe for the channel.
As it turns out, they’re super easy to make, just like everything else here. You can make a whole lot and freeze them too. Double or triple the recipe in that case. You can adjust the filling. If you don’t eat pork, then do 100% beef or even chicken. Add some spices or different herbs. It’s all up to your taste.
This recipe makes 50 – 60 pelmeni which is enough for 3 hungry people or one of me and another normal person.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the dough –
200g (7oz) white bread flour
4g (0.14oz) salt
1 medium egg (50g; 1.75oz)
95g (3.35oz) water
For the filling –
200g (7oz) ground beef
200g (7oz) ground pork
100g (3.5oz) finely chopped onion
20g (0.7oz) minced garlic
15g (0.5oz) chopped parsley
15g (0.5oz) chopped dill
6g (0.21oz) salt
3g (0.1oz) ground black pepper
40g (1.4oz) water
To boil and serve –
Bay leaves
Knob of butter
Soured cream
More chopped dill
Method
- Make the filling. Combine the water, salt, pepper, dill, parsley, garlic, and onion. Mix well to dissolve the salt. Add the meat and mix until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, then just leave the mix in a bowl and cover it.
- Make the dough. Combine the water, salt, and egg in a bowl, and mix them together. Add the flour and mix until there is no dry flour left. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Fold the dough and then leave it to rest for another 30 minutes. You can place the bowl in the fridge to make the dough easier to work with.
- Dust the dough and the table generously with flour. Roll the dough out to a 1mm – 2mm thickness. Cut little circles using a pastry cutter. The one I use is 65mm (2.5in). Collect the trimmings and reroll them to make more.
- Pipe or spoon about a teaspoon worth of filling on each piece of dough. Fold over, seal shut, and shape. Place the pelmeni on a flour-dusted baking paper lined tray. You can boil them right away or store them in the fridge for later or freeze them.
- Boil the pelmeni. Bring a pot of water up to a boil. Add a few bay leaves, black pepper, splash of vinegar, and a big pinch of salt. Drop the pelmeni in the water and wait for them to float up to the surface.
- Boil them for 3 minutes from the point when they float up to the surface.
- Strain, toss with a spoon of melted butter, place in a bowl, top with soured cream, dill, and serve up.
- Boiling them from frozen works the same way. Place in boiling water, wait until they float, and boil them for 3 minutes from that point. You can then strain them and pan fry them in hot oil for 5 minutes for a different result.
