Last days I am being busy recreating some kitchen experiments, shortly after holidays knödeln was on menu, savory version which I never had chance to try out earlier. Mostly they are well known being stuffed with fresh plum, sprinkled with sugar and roasted bread crumbs.
That version I've made, but dough came out terrible (perhaps second chance took a while out of fear 'not to screw up' again)
Even though this dish belongs to the 'beginner' level, bad or undercooked potatoes or hard kneaded dough can throw whole dish in trash.
In case of willingness to try these out , prepare following ingredients:
3 larger potatoes
1 egg
50 gr butter
400 gr flour
salt, pepper
For the filling- eggplant sautéed with one finely chopped onion and half carrot, on low temperature.
Good part of the day I was switching from Pierogi to Knödeln, fact that Pierogi requires thin rolling out (almost like pasta) made me give up on them (today only).
Smooth stretchy dough tips
Boil potatoes with skin on
(last time I made peeling mistake)
potatoes are known as starchy thirsty f o r e v e r y t h i n g vegetables, skin will stop potatoes from soaking water.
-less water, less flour required.
-less flour required, increased melting taste.
Chilled and peeled, for better mash results - mash manually.
I used old good fork, few extra minutes, one egg yolk and 50 gr of room temperature softened butter, pinch of salt.
Why not whole egg this time?
It gives that yikes gummy moment, in my personal opinion,it's cooked dough after all - egg yolk will enrich it's color and taste and soften the texture.
Combine butter and egg yolk with puree, add flour and that's last kneading step.
Don't add in all the flour right away!
Leave a side at least 100 gr, add them gradually after kneading rest of 300gr.
The texture of the dough should be smooth at this step, stretchy but not easily torn and noticeably sticky - thanks to the gluten.
From the total quantity, I got 10 medium savory and 4 larger sweet cheese knödeln.
-pick your portion size!
Flatten dough between your palms, preferably slightly wet (that will stop sticking), or on work surface sprinkled with flour. Wet option has pros as it will also help with "joining" the dough edges safely together after filled.
<keep in fridge at least 15 minutes>
Cook them in boiling water, sliding one by one, water should cover each knödeln, at first they will sink, after some time they will start floating to the surface - steady float + 2 more minutes = done!
Roll them in polenta seasoned with pepper, salt and marjoram as they are still moist and warm.
Fry in a lightly heated pan until they are golden brown.
I served them with a quick tomato sauce, simply sauteed half an onion with half a tablespoon of flour and a pinch of chili, glass and a half of tomato juice - whisk until thickens and start boiling.
How can you say no to dishes likes this, easy to modify from savory to sweet and vice versa.
It's always time for dessert!
Rest of the dough will be a great foundation for slightly roasted coconut coat and sweet creamy cheese filling.
Mix together 2-3 spoons of cottage cheese, 1 spoon of crystal sugar, half spoon of powdered sugar, egg white (if you have few drops of lemon juice, squeeze it in).
I already mentioned how much are eggs leftovers hated here so I had to find a spot for it at the same time it will keep filling nicely tight while cooking.
Roast few spoons of coconut with one spoon of sugar...
One spoon of filling, fold and tuck in, leave in fridge for a while, cook, roll in same way as mentioned with savory version.
Serve - cut - enjoy.