Zofia’s Potato Dumplings
My 97 years young grandmother, Zofia, is a true wizard in the kitchen. For as long as I can remember I have always looked forward to going to her house for any meal because it’s always a treat. As I was getting more interested in food, I asked if she could teach me some of my favorites of her recipes, and she was more than willing. I learned so many things from watching her cook, and one of the first recipes she taught me was the recipe for her famous potato dumplings. These dumplings have been at many meals in my memory, but they have always been a staple of the Thanksgiving table in my family. We have them every year, and no matter how many we make, they are always the first thing to disappear from the table. I cannot recall a family event where there were any leftover. The greatest thing about them, though, is that they are super cinchy to make, once you know how.
You start with leftover mashed potatoes. It isn’t essential that they be leftover from another meal, but it’s a great use-up for any that you might have hanging around your fridge. You need 4 cups, and if you aren’t using leftovers I find that I can get around that amount by mashing up 3 large russet potatoes worth. Make sure to mash them well to ensure that there are no lumps. In the photo here, you see me running my fingers through them one more time just to be sure that they lump free.
The rest of the ingredients are simple. Just add flour, eggs and salt, and mix until you form a smooth dough. I go into the dough with my hands, but I have seen my grandmother use a mixer before to do this. I do like to be able to feel the dough in my hands as I work it through. I think that touching your food is just as important as tasting your food when you’re trying to become a good cook. Knowing the feel of things as you’re doing them gives you another sense to depend on when trying to get a recipe just right.
These dumplings are not drop dumplings like you would dollop in a hot pot with a spoon. These are made by rolling out the dough into a 1-1.5” thick log, and then chopping off small bits of dough in dumpling shapes. My grandmother always makes the shape you see in the picture where I cut them on the bias (diagonal). I have, however seen people make similar dumplings in a lot of other shapes. Italian gnocchi, for instance, are similar and have a very different shape. Basically whatever you’d like is fine as long as they aren’t too big. If you make the dumplings too big or too thick they won’t cook all the way through or you’ll risk them breaking when they’re fresh out of the water.
Speaking of water, these are boiled dumplings, and you cook them in salted, boiling water. As soon as you drop them into the water, they’ll sink straight to the bottom. This is what’s supposed to happen. You don’t want to over-crowd the water with dumplings or your water will come down in temp too much and they won’t cook. After getting one drop of dumplings into the water, my grandmother always swirls the water with a spoon to get the dumplings moving off of the bottom. This is to ensure that none of them end up stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Once the dumplings float, you leave them in the boiling water for about 1-1.5 minutes and then remove them to the biggest bowl that you have. You then repeat these steps until all of the dumplings are cooked. One note though is that these do tend to stick together if left alone. That’s why my grandma taught me to coat the bowl with cooking spray and to give a quick spray to each batch as they come out of the water.
The last step really takes these potato clouds to the next level. We need to coat them in butter and breadcrumbs. This is something that my family has always done by feel, but I measured it in order to commit this recipe to paper once and for all. You simply melt the butter, add the breadcrumbs and let them cook until the crumbs are toasty brown. I use panko in the recipe but you could easily sub regular breadcrumbs. I started using the panko when we discovered my uncle is allergic to soy, and most commercial bread crumbs (and bread for that matter) contains some sort of soy. I started tackling this problem by baking my own loaf of bread and then making breadcrumbs from that. A lot of work to be sure, but worth it to make these delightful dumplings available to my whole family. Then, I accidentally discovered in reading the ingredients of panko breadcrumbs that they are soy free, so now I use those.
The final step is to toss the dumplings in the butter and breadcrumbs, and I truly mean “toss.” The dumplings are quite delicate right when they come out of the water, and are therefore susceptible to breaking if stirred. They do firm up in a few minutes but you want to get the crumbs and butter on right away. This is why I said to use your largest bowl, because you literally should toss the dumplings, butter and crumbs together in the bowl. If you want a better illustration of what I mean, you’ll have to watch the video that accompanies this recipe, but as soon as this step is done, you’re ready to enjoy!
My grandmother was so happy when I went to learn how to cook with her, and I was so happy that she was willing to share all she knows with me. It’s part of the reason why I want to share recipes and techniques with all of you, and I hope that it inspires you to share with your family and friends.
I really hope that you try this recipe out and share the dumplings with your family and friends (at least those you’re able to see these days). I know they’ll be a hit for you, and that they’ll fly off of the plates as quickly as you can put them on. Always remember, you don’t have to be a professional to make magic in your kitchen.
Joe the Blue Wizard
Zofia's Famous Potato Dumplings
Ingredients
- 4 cups (1kg) Mashed Potatoes
- 2 cups (240 g) Flour
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp. (9 g) Salt
- 6 tbsp. (85 g) Unsalted Butter
- 7 tbsp. (48 g) Panko Breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Mix together in a bowl the mashed potatoes, flour, eggs and salt using either your hands or an electric mixer until mixture forms an even and smooth dough.
- On a floured surface roll half of the dough into a 1-1 1/2 inch-thick log.
- Flatten the log slightly then cut on the bias into strips roughly 2-3 inches in length and 3/4 inch in thickness.
- Set cut dumplings aside on a floured surface while you roll out the remaining half of the dough.
- Bring 4 quarts of salted water to the boil.
- Add enough dumplings to the salted, boiling water to barely cover the bottom of the pot (dumplings will sink).
- Give the water a swirl with a spoon to prevent the dumplings sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Wait for dumplings to float in the water and then cook for another 1-1 1/2 minutes.
- Remove from the water using a slotted spoon to a very large bowl coated in cooking spray.
- Cook remaining dumplings in this manner and add to the bowl as you go. Spray each previous batch of dumplings with cooking spray to prevent the next batch from sticking.
- Once all dumplings are cooked, set a small frying pan over medium heat.
- Add butter to the pan and allow to melt and become foamy.
- Add breadcrumbs to the butter, stir and cook the breadcrumbs until they slightly brown.
- Pour breadcrumbs and butter over the dumplings, pick up the bowl and toss the contents using a flipping motion. (see video for a visual)
- Adjust salt to taste and enjoy!
