My favorite dumplings, these are creamy, savory, and salty and, when served with the cooked onion garnish and some sour cream, irresistible. Like the cheese filled version on page 60, they may be boiled and served with melted butter, but I think they’re best when fried in butter and served with sour cream. In addition to the variation, you can stuff these with cooked cabbage, cooked mushrooms, sauerkraut, or almost anything else you can think of.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 50, enough for 10

　　6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, more or less

　　2 large onions, diced

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1 teaspoon minced garlic, optional

　　2 cups well-seasoned mashed potatoes

　　1 recipe Wrappers for Vareniki, Pelmeni, or Pierogi (page 58)

　　2 egg whites, lightly beaten

　　Sour cream for garnish

　　

Step 1

Put 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the onions, along with a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion wilts, then turns brown, as long as 30 minutes. It’s okay if the onion gets a bit crisp on the edges, but don’t cook it too fast; basically you want a kind of onion compote. Combine half the onions and the garlic, if you’re using it, with the mashed potatoes, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

　　

Step 2

Lay a wrapper on a work surface, then place 1 to 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center of it; brush the edges of the wrapper with egg white, then pinch tightly to close. If you have cut circles, form half-moons; if you have cut squares, form triangles. Press the seam tightly to seal; it’s best if no air is trapped between the filling and wrapper. Set on a lightly floured plate or wax paper. (At this point, you may cover tightly and refrigerate for up to a day or freeze for a couple of weeks.)

　　

Step 3

To boil the dumplings, melt the remaining butter, set a large pot of water to boil, and preheat the oven to 200°F. Salt the water and boil the dumplings a few at a time until they rise to the surface. A minute or two later, taste a bit of the dough to see whether it is tender. As they finish, remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and put them in an ovenproof bowl; drizzle them with some of the butter and put the bowl in the oven. When the dumplings are done, make sure they are coated evenly with butter. Reheat the reserved onions and toss them with the pierogi. Serve hot with sour cream.

　　

Panfried Dumplings

Step 4

Put about 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat. When the butter melts, add as many dumplings as will fit without crowding and brown them quickly, turning once or twice. Keep warm on a plate in the oven, cooking the remaining dumplings and adding butter to the skillet as needed. Serve hot.

　　

Kasha-Filled Vareniki or Pierogi

Step 5

Use Kasha with Bacon and Onions (page 529) or Kasha with Mushrooms (page 529) as a filling.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.