Pelemeni (Russian Version of Ravioli/Dumplings)
Filling:
- 1/2 pound ground chicken
- 1/2 pound ground veal, or lamb, or beef
- 1 medium onion grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Dough:
- 2 cups sifted flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup water
Filling:
- Combine the two meats with onion.
- Add seasonings, mix well and set aside.
Prepare Dough:
- In a small mixing bowl, sift the flour and a pinch of salt.
- Lightly beat the egg with the water.
- Make a nest in the flour.
- Add the egg with water into the nest.
- Work the flour into the egg and mix.
- Knead to a rather dry dough.
- Use more flour if needed.
- Roll dough very thin.
- If you don’t have a mold cut the dough into 2″ circles.
- Put a small ball of filling (about 1/2 tsp) onto each circle and fold over and pinch edges making a half-moon shape.
- Now bring each corner of the moon shape together and pinch together.
- At this stage you can freeze them, or you can go on to the next step.
- Bring your favorite broth to a boil.
- Add the Pelemeny to the boiling broth.
- When they are done they will surface like doughnuts.
- You can serve them with the broth like a soup or you can have them plain with some sour cream.
- This recipe should feed 4-6 people.
Tip: If you are going to freeze them place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze partially before putting them in a freezer bag so they don’t stick together.
Making Pelemeni with my family which you can call Russian dumplings.
These are filled with a combination of ground chicken, lamb or beef.
This family cooking day happened several years ago while Dear and I were living in Camarillo for a few years because of his work. We gathered at my sister Vera’s home in Huntington Beach. This was probably sometime in 2008 or 2009.
It is fun to do this kind of cooking when my family can gather together. Nowadays I make a special trip to Kiev Market in Spokane and buy them packaged and frozen and ready to enjoy.
We enjoy them in a non-traditional way in a soup broth with chopped spinach in the broth along with the dumplings and served with chopped hard boiled eggs and a dollop of sour cream.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
…I’m sure that yours are really grandma’s best!
The dumplings look yummy, thanks for sharing.
Have a great weekend!
I wonder if the European Store near me carries these — we used to make them at my parish as a fundraiser, but I haven’t eaten one in a long time. Yum!
They look delicious, Ellen, and so beautifully made! I am half Ukrainian–my maternal grandparents were from a farming community near Liev in Eastern Ukraine, so you know I grew up eating these, however, I favored potato and onion pierogies even more. Sadly, I have gone on a low carb det as a way to control pre-diabetes, so all the good stuff like this is over for me! My husband and I are trying to eat a Mediterranean diet and therefore I prepare lots of fresh vegetables every day. It is a bit work intensive but hopefully will be a heathy diet to keep up long term.
We love our perogi, peroshki too. Hope your changes improve your health! Sounds like Borsch would be good on your Mediterranean diet. 🙂
So special to make these dumplings and bring back happy thoughts of days gone by! The best kind of comfort food! I’ve never had these dumplings, but they do sure look delicious! A great way to enjoy them in the winter, when hot broth/soup is just the best!
They look delicious and I know I would like them. Ken, not so much.
Oh my! Those sound so good!
I have no doubt that they taste wonderful! I would probably buy them if they were available in our area, as I would be too lazy to make them. I think there is an international store in Marysville that I could check out.
European food store in Lynnwood sells them.
Pelemeni sound delicious! I’ve never seen them here.
This looks so delicious. Would love to try making them.
Love your families’ traditions! These look tasty!