Potato-Cheese Dumplings Recipe - Lithuanian Varskes Cepelinai

By Barbara Rolek

easteuropeanfood.about.com

Lithuanian Potato-Cheese Dumpling

© 2009 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.

Lithuanian Potato-Cheese Dumplings - varskes cepelinai - are hearty affairs that take some time to make but are well worth the effort. These are great for meatless or Lenten meals. If you can't find dry curd cheese, you might want to make your own farmers cheese from scratch.

There are also potato-meat cepelinai.

Here is a larger picture of Lithuanian potato-cheese dumplings and the steps for making cepelinai.

Makes 6 servings of Lithuanian Potato-Cheese Dumplings

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• Dumpling Mixture:
• 6 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and finely grated
• 1 large Idaho potato, peeled, boiled and riced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely grated
• 1 teaspoon salt, more or less
• Cheese Mixture:
• 2 cups dry curd or farmers cheese or ricotta
• 1 large beaten egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
• Sour Cream Sauce:
• 1 pint sour cream
• 4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix all the cheese ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to use.
   
2. Add a drop or two of lemon juice to the grated potatoes so they don't turn brown. Place them in a fine-mesh cheesecloth or cotton dish towel and twist over a large bowl to get rid of the excess water. Pour off the water, reserving the potato starch at the bottom of the bowl.
   
3. Unwrap the cheesecloth and place potatoes in bowl with the potato starch you reserved from the bottom of the bowl. Add the riced boiled potatoes, grated onion and salt. Mix well.
   
4. Put a large stockpot of water on to boil. To form the zeppelins, take about 1 cup of dumpling mixture and pat it flat in the palm of the hand. Place 1/4 cup or more of cheese mixture in the center and, using slightly dampened hands, fold the potato mixture around the cheese into a football shape or flattened round, sealing well. Continue until both mixtures are gone.
   
5. Carefully lower dumplings into salted, boiling water to which 1 tablespoon of cornstarch has been added (to prevent dumplings from falling apart). Make sure water returns to the boil, reduce heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes or more. Remove one dumpling from water and cut to make sure interior is cooked. Remove dumplings, drain briefly on a clean dish towel and place on a heated platter.
   
6. While dumplings are cooking, make the sauce by combining all ingredients thoroughly. Drench dumplings with gravy or pass it in a gravy boat at the table.