- kapochunas
Healthy Cepelinai!!??
Justin Tyler Tate at https://www.instructables.com/Cepelinai-Lithuanian-stuffed-potato-dumplings/
When those cepelinai come in for a landing in your stomach, they land hard! Typically a dumptruck rather than a dumpling, the thick potato outside, the meat, cheese or mushroom inside, and the bacon bits and drippings outside make the perfect meal just before an afternoon of hard work in the fields. But this classic Lithuanian dish now has variants that can actually be considered healthy for those of us who aren't doing heavy manual labor. Here's one version made at the Vilnius restaurant Burna House (https://www.facebook.com/burnahouse.kalbamaistas/):
What used to be an oxymoron -- that Lithuanian cepelinai could be healthy, instead of just delicious but leaden -- is a reality. I thank Burna and Austin (Texas) Food Magazine for showing me, a pescatarian for the past 28 years who also needs gluten-free, that I can, once again, have one of my favorite dishes. The last time I had the dish, in Lithuania, I had to remind a perplexed cousin that, no, I really did not want bacon drippings on my cheese-filled cepelinai.
According to Snieguolė Valiaugaitė, Communication Project Manager at Lithuania Travel (https://lithuania.travel/en/) “Cepelinai used to be the perfect hearty meal delivering the necessary energy that our predecessors needed to endure the cold climate while working the fields. Times have changed, and so has Lithuanian cuisine: over the last few decades, local chefs have introduced foreign flavors to cepelinai and have transformed it to a healthy everyday dinner or lunch option.”
Here's the Burna House recipe:
Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
For the potato mixture:
800 grams of raw blended potatoes
300 grams of fresh potatoes (peeled)
100 grams of finely chopped onions
60 grams of milk
60 grams of butter
250 grams of fresh beetroot juice
40 grams of potato starch
For the stuffing:
400 grams of cottage cheese
2 grams of fresh tarragon
40 grams of sour cream
For the white wine sauce with sundried tomatoes and capers:
400 grams of heavy cream
100 grams of white wine (dry)
80 grams of sundried tomatoes
10 grams of capers
5 grams of cornstarch
15 grams of salt
10 grams of fresh thyme
20 grams of cooking oil
For garnish:
Chopped dill
Chopped spring onions
Chopped parsley
Black pepper
Preparation
1. Cook the freshly peeled potatoes in salted water and drain them. Heat the milk until it starts boiling, add it to the potatoes along with the butter. Mash until smooth.
2. Mix the mashed potatoes with the raw blended potatoes and the beetroot juice. Add 5 grams of salt
3. For the stuffing mix the cottage cheese with the tarragon, sour cream, and 3 grams of salt.
4. To form a single cepelinas take 50 grams of the potato mixture and pat it flat in the palm of the hand. Place 20 grams of the stuffing in the center and, using slightly dampened hands, fold the potato mixture around the cottage cheese stuffing into a zeppelin shape, sealing well.
5. Mix 2.5 liters of water with the beetroot juice and bring it to a boil. Gently lower the cepelinai into the boiling water and juice mixture and cook for 15 minutes on low-to-medium heat.
6. For the sauce sauté the onions on cooking oil until golden brown. Add the wine and fresh thyme. Cook for 7-10 minutes until the alcohol evaporates. Add the cream, bring it to a slow boil and simmer for 15 more minutes on low heat. Add the sundried tomatoes and the capers and bring it to a boil. To thicken the sauce, add the cornstarch.
7. Serve the cepelinai with the white wine sauce and garnish with fresh dill, spring onions, ground black pepper, and parsley.
Enjoy!
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