Cepelinai (Lithuanian Potato Dumplings Stuffed with Pork)

About This Recipe

Cepelinai are the national dish of Lithuania and arguably the heaviest, most satisfying dumplings in Europe — large, oval potato dumplings, each about the size of a fist and the shape of a small zeppelin (hence the name, from the German aircraft), filled with seasoned ground pork and poached gently in salted water until the potato shell turns translucent and glossy. The technique is genuinely unusual: half the potatoes are grated raw and squeezed almost dry, the other half are cooked and mashed, and the two are combined with a little potato starch to create a stretchy, almost gluten-like dough capable of wrapping around the meat without tearing during the long poach. The result is a dumpling with a texture unlike anything else in European cooking — outside almost rubbery and elastic, inside a juicy pocket of pork seasoned with marjoram, onion and pepper. Served two or three to a plate (one is dinner enough for most), they are drowned in spirgučiai — a sauce of cubed smoked bacon rendered crispy with caramelized onions in its own fat — and topped with a heroic dollop of cold sour cream that melts into the hot dumpling. This is the food of Lithuanian Sunday lunch, of grandmother's kitchens, and of winter dinners that justify several hours in the kitchen and a long nap afterward.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.5 kgstarchy potatoes (Russet), peeled — half for grating, half for boiling
• 1 smallonion, grated (to prevent oxidation)
• 30 gpotato starch, plus 1 tsp salt for the dough
• 400 gground pork (50% shoulder, 50% belly for proper fat content)
• 1 mediumonion, finely diced (for the filling)
• 2 tspdried marjoram (essential — non-negotiable for cepelinai flavor)
• 1 tspsalt and 1/2 tsp pepper for the filling
• 200 gsmoked bacon, cut into 5 mm cubes (for spirgučiai sauce)
• 2 largeonions, finely chopped (for the sauce)
• 200 gthick sour cream (smetana), cold, to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the filling

   In a skillet, sweat the diced onion in 1 tbsp oil over medium heat 5 minutes until translucent. Cool completely. Combine with the ground pork, marjoram, salt, pepper, and 3 tbsp ice-cold water in a bowl. Mix well with hands until tacky. Form into 8 walnut-sized balls and refrigerate while you make the dough.

2. 2

   Boil half the potatoes

   Cut 750 g of the peeled potatoes into chunks. Boil in salted water 18 minutes until very soft. Drain thoroughly and let steam off for 3 minutes, then mash smooth with a ricer (not a masher — you need ricer-fine texture). Cool until just warm.

3. 3

   Grate the raw potatoes

   On the smallest holes of a box grater, grate the remaining 750 g raw potatoes into a bowl with the grated small onion. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel and squeeze hard over a bowl to extract all the liquid — you should get about 250 ml of starchy water. Let it settle 5 minutes; carefully pour off the clear water, leaving the thick white starch at the bottom. Scrape that starch back into the grated potatoes.

4. 4

   Combine the dough

   In a large bowl, combine the squeezed raw potatoes, the riced cooked potatoes, the potato starch, and 1 tsp salt. Knead by hand for 2–3 minutes until you have a soft, slightly tacky dough that holds together when squeezed. If too wet, add 1–2 more tbsp potato starch; if too dry, a splash of cold water.

5. 5

   Form the cepelinai

   Bring a large wide pot of generously salted water to a gentle boil (not a roar — they'll burst). Divide the dough into 8 portions. Wet your hands. Flatten one portion into a circle in your palm, place a pork ball in the centre, and carefully bring the dough up and around the meat, sealing completely. Smooth into an oval zeppelin shape. Place on a damp tray. Repeat with all 8.

   Seal carefully — any hole and the filling escapes during cooking. Pinch firmly and smooth with wet fingers.

6. 6

   Poach the cepelinai

   Carefully lower the cepelinai into the gently simmering water with a slotted spoon — work in batches of 4 to avoid crowding. Once they float (about 2 minutes), reduce heat to barely simmering and cook 25–30 minutes uncovered. The dough should turn glossy-translucent. Do not let the water boil hard or they'll burst.

7. 7

   Make the spirgučiai sauce

   While the cepelinai poach, render the bacon cubes in a dry skillet over medium-low heat 8 minutes until crisp and the fat has rendered out. Add the chopped onions and a pinch of salt. Cook 10–12 minutes more until onions are deeply golden and tender. The sauce should be a generous pool of bacon-onion fat with crisp bits suspended throughout.

8. 8

   Serve

   Lift the cepelinai out with a slotted spoon, draining well. Place 2 on each warm plate. Spoon a generous quantity of the hot spirgučiai sauce over each. Top with a heroic dollop of cold sour cream — it will melt into a stream of dairy down the dumpling. Serve immediately, with cold beer and pickles on the side. One is plenty for most diners; two is the traditional portion.

Variations

• •

  Vegetarian cepelinai — fill with mashed curd cheese (varškė) and onion for a Friday/Lent version called varškinai cepelinai.

• •

  Wild mushroom filling — porcini and onion braised in butter for a deeply earthy autumn version.

• •

  Serve with mushroom-sour-cream gravy instead of bacon sauce for a richer dinner-party version.

• •

  Smaller cepelinai (half the size) cook in 15 minutes and are friendlier to less hardy appetites.

Storage

Best eaten fresh. Leftovers refrigerate 3 days; reheat in simmering water 8 minutes or in a covered skillet with a splash of water. Freeze uncooked cepelinai on a tray, then bag — cook from frozen, adding 10 minutes to poach time. Do not microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions