A traditional Russian classic!
It takes time to prepare the dough, filling and then shaping up each individual dumpling by hand, but the taste and flavour afterwards is so rewarding!
We make these about 2 or 3 times a year and freeze most of it so it’s then super quick to boil some bouillon, add the pelmeni and have a quick meal ready in 10min!
Servings
6 (~80pcs)
Prep time:
~1h30min
Cook time:
10min
Difficulty:
Easy
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 500g plain flour
- 25g butter, diced
- 1 egg
- 150ml water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
For the filling:
- 350g pork mince (10% fat or higher)
- 350g beef mince (10% fat or higher)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 5 dill sprigs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Notes:
For the meats, you can do a mixture of pork/beef/lamb in equal quantities or just pork or any mixture you fancy, but aim to get a mince that’s as fatty as possible (15 to 20% if you can) especially if one of your mince is very lean like venison for instance.
You want your filling to be high on fat so as to not end up having a cooked pelmeni that’s going to be too dry.
To cut the dough into discs, use a small coffee cup about 7cm in diameter (or use a cutting ring if you have).
This will yield about 80 pelmeni in total and should serve about 6 people (roughly ~15 pelmeni per person or less if you’d like to do this as part of a larger meal).
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
For the dough, assuming you’re using a stand mixer (kitchenaid or the likes with a dough hook), pour the flour and make a well in the center to put the egg in, butter, salt and pepper and gradually add the water as it is mixed. You might need to add a bit more than 150ml of water depending on how your dough ends up. It should be homogeneous and should not stick to the bowl.
If using your hands, then follow the same process but it’ll take a bit longer. Start mixing ingredients by hand and gradually add the water until it doesn’t stick to your hands anymore.
Step 2
Set aside the dough for about 30min to let it rest and in the meantime you can prepare the filling.
Step 3
I usually buy pre-ground meat so the only thing you really need to do is chop the onion, the dill and mix everything together well. I always end up adding a bit of water towards the end and mixing thoroughly again to make the filling a bit more springy – but it’s up to you.
Step 4
To shape the pelmeni, roll out your dough on a floured surface until it’s thin enough that you can see your hand through it and cut discs using your coffee cup. This is usually where this becomes a two person operation, with one rolling out the dough and cutting discs and the other wrapping the filling but you can cut the discs in advance, set them aside on a floured sheet pan and cover with a cloth to prevent them from drying.
Step 5
Using a teaspoon, add a bit of filling to the center of each disc and fold in half in the shape of a half moon. Press the ends so they stick together (you can use a bit of water in between to help it stick if you need to). Next, take both ends of the half moon shape and bend the pelmeni to stick both ends together (if you’re familiar with tortellini, this is pretty much the same method).
Step 6
Add one stock cube (beef usually) to 500ml of boiling water, and cook the pelmeni. You will know they are ready when they start floating on the surface. Enjoy!
The finished Pelmeni after being cooked in a beef broth, served with cream, mustard, loads of dill and a little bit of butter!
0 Comments