Topfenknodel
A distant relative of mine, originally from the Polish-German-Czechoslovakian border area (previously part of the Austrian Empire), was an exceptional cook but refused to share her recipes, claiming that either the dish would not turn out as good as hers did, in which case she would be blamed, or it would be as good or better, in which case her own cooking skills would be diminished. Among her repertoire were light, slightly tangy cheese dumplings. No one, however, ever wrangled the real recipe from her. Fortunately, I found a number of cooperative cooks who were more than willing to share their recipes with me.
These popular dumplings are calledtopfenknodelin Austria and Germany,turos gombocin Hungary,syrove knedlikyin Czech, andkluskiin Poland.Topfen, also calledquarkin German, is a thick, slightly tangy central European curd cheese popular for making dumplings, spreads, and toppings. Sincetopfenis generally unavailable in America, a little cream cheese is added to the pot cheese to approximate the original texture and flavor. You can substitute farmer cheese for the pot cheese, but first wrap it in several layers of paper towels, then let it drain for about 10 minutes to extract some of the excess moisture. Do not use cottage cheese, which contains too much liquid and is too firm. My grandmother served savory cheese dumplings on Shavuot as an appetizer, accompanied with sour cream or browned bread crumbs (2 cups fresh bread crumbs sautéed in 6 tablespoons butter until golden), or a sweetened version as dessert.
Ingredients
Makes about 16 dumplings, 5 to 6 servings
Step 1
1. In a food processor or blender, or with an electric mixer, combine the cheeses, onion, and salt. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Beat in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir in enough of the semolina to produce a firm dough. (Getting the moisture level right so that the batter holds together in your hand is the tricky part.) Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. (The semolina absorbs moisture from the batter and firms it.)
Step 2
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a gentle boil. Using 2 moistened soup spoons or your hands moistened with water, form the batter into 1 1/2-inch balls.
Step 3
3. Drop the dumplings in the water in batches and stir gently to prevent sticking. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until they expand and rise to the surface, about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl. Serve warm. To keep warm or reheat, place in a 200°F oven.
Austrian Jam-Filled Cheese Dumplings (Gefulte Topfenknodel)
Step 4
In the dumpling batter, omit the onion and add 3 to 5 tablespoons sugar and, if desired, 1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest. Press a deep indentation into the cheese balls, fill with about 1/4 teaspoonlekvar(prune butter) or other jam (about 1/4 cup total), and press the dough around the filling to enclose. Cook as above. Serve with sweetened whipped cream, cinnamon sugar, or jam.
Romanian Cheese-Cornmeal Dumplings (Papanush):
Step 5
Omit the onion and substitute 1/2 to 3/4 cup fine-grind yellow cornmeal for the semolina.
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Reviews (3)
Back to TopOne of my rare epicurious failures - these were terrible. The dough TASTED great, and it was sticky-dry and formable, but the dumplings came out much too spongy and soft. A shame to waste them, I'll probably bake them into a frittata/quiche sort of thing.
Anonymous
chicago
12/23/2008
I tried the cornmeal variation and it didn't seem to work out all that well. They fell apart and became mushy instead of firming up. I may try the standard recipe next time.
Anonymous
Sacramento CA
12/10/2007
我发现这些非常有趣的在个人层面上-- my grandmother (who grew up in Poland) taught my mother how to make something similar to this, which she called "lazy pierogi." (Kluski was the name of another dumpling she made with mashed potatoes.) I always knew that the lazy pierogis as we made them were an Americanized version (we used 1 egg + 1 C flour + 1 C cottage cheese) and that the original recipe used farmer's cheese (very hard to come by where we grew up), but I'd never been able to find a recipe for something similar until now. This recipe is much lighter and spongier than my grandmother's, and very tangy. These also stand well on their own, whereas I wouldn't dream of serving lazy pierogis without frying them in several pounds of sliced, very well-carmelized onions. I served this recipe with carmelized onions and although they were good, my whole family agreed they liked my grandmother's recipe much better. Next time I'll combine the two recipes (use half farmer's cheese/half cottage cheese and half flour/half farina) and see what happens. These were a bit too tangy, and we prefer a bit heavier texture, these were too spongy for us. I'd love to see another review soon!!
casantiago
Chicago
12/5/2006
