Siberian pelmeni

Make a mixture of fish, meat and veg pelmeni, or halve the dough ingredients and make fewer.

MAKES about 200 dumplings PREP 1 hrs plus 30 mins chilling COOK 5 mins per batch

EASY G

1 bay leaf

1 vegetable stock cube soft herbs, such as parsley, dill

or chervil, chopped soured cream, to serve butter, to serve (optional)

For the dough

700g plain lour, plus extra

for dusting

2 eggs

For the meat illing

500g mince (50/50 pork and beef) 1 onion, grated

For the ish illing

500g ish (mixture of trout, salmon

and cod), cut into small pieces 1 onion, grated

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch of chives, inely chopped For the vegetarian illing 400g mixed mushrooms

1 onion

2 garlic cloves small bunch of parsley

2 tbsp sun lower oil dash of soy sauce

150g pine nuts

1 To make the meat and fish fillings, mix each set of ingredients in separate large bowls with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper. For the vegetable filling, finely chop the mushrooms, onion, garlic and parsley together using a food processor. Heat the oil and fry the mixture with the soy sauce on a medium heat for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and stir through the pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.

2 Sieve the flour onto a clean, dry surface. Make a well in the middle and add 1 tsp salt, the eggs and 200ml water, then gradually mix with your hands to form a firm dough. Flour varies in absorbency – you may need more or less water. Knead well for 5-7 mins. Wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 mins.

3 Take the dough out of the fridge, pull apart in handfuls, then roll out each piece, one at a time (keeping the rest covered) on a flour-dusted surface. It’s best to use a pasta machine to roll the sheets until about 1.5mm thick (setting 7).

4 Using a shot glass, cut round discs about 4-6cm in diameter. Put 1 tsp of a filling in the middle of a disc and fold to make a half moon, fold again so the edges of the half-moon stick together. Arrange on a tray dusted with flour. These can be cooked straightaway or frozen on trays, then bagged to cook at a later date.

5 Boil a large pot of salted water. Add the bay and a stock cube. Lower the pelmeni into the broth and cook, in batches, for 5 mins. They’re ready when they float to the surface.

6 Ladle the pelmeni into bowls along with the broth, then top with the soft herbs, soured cream and some black pepper. If you prefer the pelmeni without broth, use a slotted spoon to dish out and melt some butter over them before topping with the rest of the ingredients.

PER DUMPLING 30 kcals • fat 1g • saturates 0.2g • carbs 3g • sugars 0.2g • ibre 0.3g • protein 2g • salt 0.1g

Making pelmeni dumplings to stock up for winter is almost ceremonial