Whole Wheat Pelmeni!

There are so many delicious places to eat out in Bellingham. One of my personal favorite is Pelmeni. Pelmeni is a very successful Russian dumpling restaurant on State street with two menu items: beef or potato. Every time I go and spend 6 dollars I always wonder: if they are able to make so many Pelmeni in such large quantities I bet I could too while improving the recipe. So, that is exactly what I have done. I have replace the white flour with whole wheat flour and the beef with ground turkey and pork. Here is my healthier Pelmeni recipe for a fraction of the price. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Dough:

1 ½ cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 eggs

½ cup warm water

½ tsp salt

Filling:

¼ lb ground turkey

¼ lb ground Pork

½ onion grated

3 cloves garlic minced

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Pour flour onto a large cutting board and make a volcano

2. In a mixing bowl mix eggs, water, and salt together

3. Pour half the egg mixture into the volcano and carefully mix dough together

4. Add the rest of the egg mixture slowly until dough just comes together, you may not use all egg mixture

5. Kneed the dough for about 5 minutes

6. Place dough in a bowl, cover with cellophane, let rest for 30 minutes

7. While dough rests, place turkey, pork, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and mix until completely combined.

Forming the Dumplings

You can make the Pelmeni any size that you like. The ones at Pelmeni are about the size of a chestnut. I chose to make mine a little bigger to make it easier to work with the dough this first time. By the end I was able to make tiny dumplings that would be great in chicken soup!

Directions

1.  Cut the dough into small pieces and roll into small balls like seen in photos
2. Dusk the the ball with flour so it does not stick
3. I used a wine glass to roll out the dough, make sure it is very thin
4. Roll until about 2 inches in diameter.
5. Place a small amount of meat mixture into center of dough
6. Pull sides together and pinch all sides to close the dumpling
7. Pull the ends of the dumpling together to form the shape of the dumpling
8. Dust with flour so it does not stick with others
9. Repeat until all dough or mixture is gone.

Cooking

1. Boil a large pot of salted water
2. Reduce heat to simmer and place desired amount of dumplings into water
3. Cook until the dumplings float
4. Cook for an additional minute or two
5. Drain and serve in bowl with white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, curry powder, chopped cilantro or dill, and sour cream on the side.

The pelmeni also freeze great! Now, we all know that this is not a balanced meal, there are not veggies or fruits! I would highly recommend making a spinach and yam filling pelmeni with your meat pelmeni to make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals with dinner. A great veggie substitute for the meat is mushrooms (especially chanterelles). Enjoy! Remember to have passion for your food and compassion for your body :)