Pelmeni for Christmas

As long as I can think, my family had a tradition for the day before Christmas that nobody else had. In my home country Germany, a lot of people have a very simple meal on the night before  Christmas given the extensive meals to come over the next two days. Similar in my family, however, the recipe my mom used to make, was very special. Passed on from her mother who had to cook for Russian soldiers during World War II, this was one of the meals that they especially liked. Later, in the years after the war, access to produce, spices or other ingredients was extremely limited. But given the simplicity and only few ingredients needed for Pelmenis, this was a meal that was still affordable and easy enough to cook. Over time, my grandmother passed it on to my mother and she then decided to make it part of our annual tradition during Christmas time. Even many years after leaving home, my mom will still make this recipe every time I come home for Christmas. Seeing her rolling out the dough, forming the Pelmenis and eventually serving them with plenty of butter, makes me feel like I went back in time and I’m a little kid again. A feeling hard to describe but well known to so many of us.

Recipe:

Dough: 500g flour | 2-3 egg whites | 150ml hand-warm water | ½ tee spoon of salt

Meat: 500g of ground pork | salt and pepper | ½ of a finely diced onion | 2 egg yolks | 50ml water | bread crumbs

Cooking: Mix the dough thoroughly and roll it out very thinly (similar to pasta dough). Then carve out round pieces with a glass (~5cm diameter). Mix the meat with all other ingredients and form small meatballs (~1-2cm diameter). Put the meat in the center of the round pieces of dough and close the dough around it. Once done, this should look like Tortellini. Prepare a pot full of lightly salted water and bring it to boil. Add the Pelmenis and turn down the heat after half a minute. Cover the pot with a lid and let the Pelmenis simmer for 15 minutes. Take the Pelmenis out of the water, put them in a deep serving dish, cover with plenty of butter and let them rest for 5 minutes. You may garnish the final meal with some parsley and serve the Pelmenis with some lemon and Worcester Sauce. Bon Appetit!