Nothing says summer as berry filled dumplings, or vareniki.
My favorite type of filling is cherries. They make a quick dinner for hot
summer nights when you crave something homemade, but don’t want to spend
too much time in the kitchen. My mom would always make her own dough and my sister and I
would help her to add the filling and seal the dumplings with a signature
scalloped edge. In less than half an hour would have been sharing a bite of
summer. The best part is that you can make a batch and freeze it for later.
Servings: 20
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 300 grams all purpose flour + more for dusting
- 1 cup hot water
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
For the filling:
- 1 lb.
fresh or frozen dark cherries
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 1/6 cup of starch
For serving:
- Sour cream
Directions
To make the dough, sift the flour in a large bowl and add
salt. In a ceramic cup combine hot water and olive oil. Pour the water immediately
into the flour mixture and mix it with a fork. Let the dough cool down a little
bit and continue kneading it on a floured surface. The dough should get very
elastic and easy to manipulate.
Then you can roll out the dough on a thoroughly floured
surface until ¼" – ⅛" thickness. Cut out 3 inch circles using a
drinking glass. I prefer to make the circles a little differently. First, I split
the dough in two rolls and cut both in 10 equal pieces. Then I roll out each
piece in a 3 inch circle.
Place 2 – 4 cherries in the middle of each circle and
sprinkle them with about a teaspoon of cornstarch and sugar mixture. Pinch the
two sides together or go back and make a scalloped edge as shown in the
picture. Continue rolling, filling and sealing until all dough is used up. Now
you can freeze them overnight on a lined baking sheet or cook right away. Store
frozen vareniki in a ziploc bag for up to 3 months.
To cook vareniki bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Season it with salt and add vareniki. Stir gently to prevent them from sticking
to each other. Let it cook for 5 minutes at most. You will see them floating up
to the surface when they are done. Drain and serve right away with sour cream.
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