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- Makes 15 dumplings + 4 cups gravy
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A staple side dish throughout Germany, these gnocchi-like dumplings are hearty enough to serve as an entrée, too. The potato dumplings feature a sprinkling of nutmeg—which adds a warm, savory flavor—and are boiled before serving to achieve a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture. The herb-infused mushroom gravy is bursting with umami and gets its drool-worthy creaminess from a slurry of whole-wheat flour and plant-based milk. White wine vinegar offers a splash of bright acidity to balance out the rich flavors, but lemon juice can be used in its place if you don’t have the vinegar on hand. Garnish each serving with chopped parsley for a bright pop of color and peppery finish.
For more vegan dumpling-inspired recipes, check out these taste ideas:
Ingredients
- 2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and halved (8 cups)
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons potato starch
- 8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms (6 cups)
- 1 medium onion, diced (1½ cups)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
- 2 cups unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
- 1½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Add water to saucepan to just below basket. Bring to boiling. Steam, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher. Add ¼ cup of the flour, the flaxseed meal, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Massage mixture until a dough forms.
- Shape ¼ cup dough into a tightly packed ball and roll in potato starch. Place in a covered container. Repeat with remaining dough until you have 15 balls, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
- For gravy, in a large saucepan combine mushrooms, onion, garlic, sage, thyme, and ¼ cup water. Cook over medium-low 10 minutes or until all excess moisture has cooked off and the mushrooms start to brown, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer ⅓ cup of the mushrooms to a small bowl.
- Stir the remaining ¼ cup flour into the mixture in the saucepan. Cook 1 minute or until flour begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir in milk; increase heat to medium and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until gravy thickens, stirring frequently. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the reserved ⅓ cup mushrooms. Keep warm.
- Bring a large pot of water to boiling. Using a slotted spoon, add the dumplings to boiling water 4 or 5 at a time. Cook 1 ½ minutes, then immediately transfer dumplings to a platter using slotted spoon. (Do not overcook.) Repeat with remaining dumplings.
- To serve, place a few dumplings on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Spoon gravy over top. Garnish with parsley. Serve hot.
Comments (10)
(4 from 3 votes)This looks very strange. 1/4 cup of dough seems awfully small. The dumplings in my German family are about tennis ball size. The dumplings usually cook / simmer about 20 minutes or until they float on the surface. The dough is made from potatoes boiled with the peel on. We do not add nutmeg and have never rolled the dumplings in starch.
Well, this was two hours of my life I just can't get back. The final product was like gluey, wet mashed potatoes. After reading other comments I have an idea of what might have gone wrong. Although I steamed the potatoes, the steamer slipped and some ended up submerged. So the potatoes might not have been dry enough. Also, another reviewer recommended boiling the dumplings for 20 minutes. The recipe says 1 1/2 minutes (which is the time I used). I don't know that the texture would have been better after 20 minutes, but I would have tried anything to improve it. That being said, I am not even attempting modifications to this recipe and trying it again. It takes too long. I have had similar failures with FOK homemade gnocchi recipes. Disappointing!
For those who have made this recipe, how many servings would this be? 15 dumplings seems like a lot, and I'm guessing these may not freeze well
Is there a GF option?
Your recipes are good, but it would help to have nutritional information for those of us either cutting calories, or forced to limit certain things.
One final tip: the balls when shaped this large (baseball sized) are finished when they float in the water. You put them into the boiling water but you turn the heat down to medium temp. They cook about 20mins.
I am happy to read that you have included a German recipe. I live in Germany and make potato balls regularly. Originally it was a main side dish in the south of Germany added to a roast. I also make a vegan version with mushrooms. Another side dish served with these potato balls is cooked and shredded red cabbage. There are others, as well. The balls are usually about the size of a baseball and two cut and roasted toast pieces are put in the center when shaping the balls. There are variations with raw shredded potatoes and with half-and-half. So half the dough is cooked potatoes and half is raw potatoes. Those are my favorite. Have fun cooking everyone :-)
?
Can I use gluten free flour?
Yes, you can use gluten-free flour. I’ve tried rice flour, cornstarch and tapioca flour. None of them worked near as well as just using potato flour. You don’t need two different flours. Note that the gluten holds the dumplings together. Just be careful not to boil the potatoes. Keep the steaming water below the potatoes and don’t over cook them or they will fall apart. Ricing the potatoes and then adding the potato flour works best in my opinion. Also note that potatoes and flour are high in simple carbohydrates—basically starch, which is converted to sugar in our bodies. Sugar causes an inflammatory response. So, I go easy eating these kinds of recipes—just special occasions. Red cabbage, sauerkraut, green beans, and broccoli all make great side dishes for potato dumplings. They also add good fiber to slow the sugar in the dumplings.