Meatballs In A Blanket (Stuffed Knedle Dumplings) – Eastern European Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups mashed potatoes (about 10 medium size potatoes)
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (oprtional)
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper (optional)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Wondra flour
• 2 Tbs. corn starch
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tbs. Canola oil or olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
Stuffing
• 1 lbs. ground meat (I used turkey for this recipe, but chicken, beef or pork may also be used)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 tsp. Sage
• 1/2 tsp. Oregano
• 1/2 tsp. Basil
• 2 Tbs. Flat Leaf Italian Parsley, chopped
• 4 Tbs. bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Peel the potatoes, cut in chunks.
2. Rinse and place in a pot of cold, salted water.
3. Bring to boil and cook until done (about 20 minutes).
4. Drain the water, and add 1 Tbs. butter, plus onion powder, garlic powder and pepper if you wish.
5. Mash well, until smooth, and not lumpy.
6. Set aside.
7. Place the mashed potatoes on a floured work area.
8. Mix the all-purpose flour with the corn starch and Wondra flour.
9. Make a well in the middle of the potatoes, and add the flour mixture.
10. Add 1 egg, one egg yolk, salt and oil.
11. Mix to combine and to create a soft and satiny dough.
12. Cover the dough with a tea towel and let the dough rest 5 minutes.
13. While the dough is resting, prepare the stuffing, unless you prepared it while the potatoes were cooking to give it a chance to cool.
14. On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a long log, about 2 inches in diameter.
15. Use a sharp knife, and cut the dough log into 32 slices, about 1/4 inch thick.
16. Using floured hands, and working on a floured surface, form each slice into a thin circle (less than 1/8 inch thick).
17. Place one prepared meatball in the middle of the circle and bring edges together to seal, then gently roll between the palms of your hands to form a ball.
18. Set aside on a floured surface and repeat the process until all the dough and filling are used up.
19. Meanwhile, fill a pot with salted water, and bring to boil.
20. Place several dumplings (no  more than one layer once they float up to the top) into the boiling water, and gently stir with a wooden spoon, or spatula.
21. Bring to boil again, and once they float to the top, cook for at least 8 minutes.
22. Remove with a slotted spoon into a bowl of cold water, and leave them in there for few minutes to cool off. Then pour out into a colander, to drip off.
23. Repeat the cooking process for the remaining dumplings.
Stuffing:
24. Add 1 Tbs. butter to a frying pan, and saute the chopped onion for 2 minutes, until translucent.
25. Add the minced garlic and saute for a minute longer, stirring often.
26. Add the ground meat and continue to saute, until fully cooked, stirring continuously to break it up.
27. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, parsley and sage.
28. Remove to a medium bowl, and mix well with 1 egg and bread crumbs, to make stuffing.
29. Set aside to cool, then form into 32 meatballs, about the size of a walnut.

Notes