On Thursday, I’ll be leaving Stas behind to go on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. This year, my company turns 25. To celebrate, they are flying the entire company (worldwide) to Miami. From there, we’ll board the Carnival Destiny, which they have chartered and we will have all to ourselves. It’s a short cruise; I’ll be home Sunday night.
Part of my preparations involve making sure Stas will have some easy dinner options while I’m gone. One of his options – and one of his absolute favorites – is pelmeni: little meat-filled raviolis.
You can make each ravioli by hand, one by one. But a much quicker option is a pelmeni mold.
This recipe was adapted from one that Stas’ mom passed along. It usually makes “3 pelmeni molds” (37 little raviolis per mold; 111 per recipe). You can eat them all right away, or store them in the freezer, where they can stay for months. When you want to cook them, no need to defrost – just plop them into salted boiling water.
Pelmeni
For the Dough:
- 1.5 – 2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Meat Filling:
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- garlic, to taste
- fresh dill, chopped
- fresh parsley, chopped
1. Prepare the dough: mix the flour, eggs, water, and salt together until a dough forms. Add flour as needed, until dough is easy to handle. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
2. Prepare the meat filling: Combine the pork, onions, salt, pepper, garlic, dill, and parsley in a large mixing bowl; mix well.
3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Take one piece and roll it out until it fits the mold. You will need to add flour as you roll it out, to prevent it from sticking to the board and pin. Place the rolled sheet over the mold and cover each hole with meat.
Take another piece of dough and roll it out to the same size as the first. Place it over the meat-filled mold. Run a rolling pin over the top to form the raviolis:
Pull off the excess dough from the outer rim and set aside. Pick up the mold, turn it over, and bang it like a tambourine to remove the raviolis (that’s the best way I can describe it).
If you aren’t going to eat them right away, place them on a single-layer on a cookie sheet, and place in the freezer until frozen. Then transfer them to a plastic bag.
4. Repeat step 3 with the remaining 2 pieces of dough. Then use the scraps from the first 2 batches to make a third batch. The dough will be tougher to roll out, but it’ll work!
5. To cook the pelmeni, place them in salted boiling water. Boil them until they float – times will vary for fresh or frozen pelmeni. Serve with a pat of butter, pour on some vinegar, and garnish with fresh dill.
Makes 3 batches with a pelmeni mold
this stuff is the sh*t!!! 🙂
Stas! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe and step-by-step instructions!
Glad to see your posting again, I’ve missed your blog!
I am so glad you posted this with pictures! I’ve been begging my friend to show me how to use my pelmeni mold that I bought in Ukraine. Thanks!
WOW! You have a really quick way of making Palmeni! I like how you make them in bulk then cut them up!
I remember buying them frozen at the Russian deli back in San Francisco when I was little but I have never made them myself.
My sister makes them though. She actually just posted a blog about the history of Pelmeni that you may be interested in. Here is the link:
http://blog.foodservicewarehouse.com/blog/2010/07/28/pelmeni/
Thanks for the link!
I’ve tried making them the old-fashioned way (by hand), but it takes way too long and my husband eats them up SO fast – so using the pelmeni press just seems more practical.
Yeah, that mold is wonderful invention!
BTW,
on eBay it’s possible to buy this mold much cheaper,
for example, here I found really cheap one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170608215538
Looks like it takes about 10 days to ship to US.
I have already ordered!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ve had this pelmeni mold for years and never knew how to use it, now I’m so excited to get cooking!
Thank you so much for this! I’ve had a pelmeni mold for ages, from my parents’ place, and never knew how to use it! I can’t wait to put this recipe to use, thanks!