Potato and pea dumplings

Serves 46

Glutenfree

Prep time 1 hour Cooling time 30 mins Cooking time 40 mins

These tennisballsized potato dumplings are the Bjorn Borg of the dumpling world. They are oldschool champions, and can be boiled or fried, filled or unfilled (and differ in other ways, depending on which regional variety you make: Smalandska dumplings sink when they are initially boiled and rise to the top when they are finished, whereas those from Oland, an island off the east coast of

Sweden, do the opposite).

Peas aren’t usually added, but I like the way they give the otherwise greylooking dumpling a lovely green pop.

I’ve skipped the filling in this recipe, instead piling them high with a salty, sweet and spicy topping.

For the dumplings

300g potatoes

300g frozen peas sea salt

2 medium eggs

1⁄2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 300g350g potato flour

For the topping knob of butter

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp white pepper

250g smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped handful of chopped fresh chives sugared lingonberries or lingonberry jam

Method

Fill a large saucepan with cold salted water and peel the potatoes. Put the potatoes in the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender, then drain and leave to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, put the frozen peas into another pan with 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes, until just tender. Drain and blend to a smooth paste in a food processor. Finely grate the potatoes, then mix with a pinch of salt, the blitzed peas and eggs. Add the nutmeg and 300g of the flour and stir to combine, only adding more flour if you need it the dough should be firm.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a generous pinch of salt. While its coming to the boil, roll the dough into a long sausage and cut into 12 equal pieces, then roll each one into a ball.

Next, make the topping: put the butter into a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the spices, bacon and onion, cooking until the onion is crisp and golden. While the bacon and onion are frying, add the dumplings to the boiling water and cook for 510 minutes, or until they are firm but bounce back when touched. If you are unsure, cut one open: the dumpling should be cooked and hot all the way through.

Serve immediately with a generous heap of the topping, a sprinkle of chopped chives and some sugared lingonberries or lingonberry jam.

Get ahead: The dumplings can be frozen after they’ve been boiled. Plunge into boiling water to defrost and reheat.