Recipes, re-invented from cooking shows
Goat's Cheese Vareniki
Prep. Time:
Baking Time:
Total Time:
30 minutes
45 minutes
2 hours 15 minutes
Serves:
Serves 4 as a starter (about 28 dumplings)
Larissa created this dish for MasterChef UK ™ Series 22. Her goat's cheese, potato and thyme vareniki won warm praise for their beautifully thin, just-cooked dough and a filling the judges called wonderfully flavoured. This Fix-It reconstruction keeps those celebrated dumplings exactly as made while...
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Ingredients
FOR THE DUMPLING DOUGH:
2 1/2 cups (300 g) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra to dust
1/2 tsp (3 g) fine salt
1 large egg, room temperature
2 tbsp (30 ml) sunflower or light oil
2/3 cup (150 ml) warm water, approx.; add gradually
FOR THE GOAT'S CHEESE, POTATO & THYME FILLING:
1 lb (450 g) floury potatoes (Maris Piper / Russet), peeled
2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter
5 oz (150 g) soft goat's cheese (rindless log / chevre)
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, picked
Salt & white pepper, to taste
FOR THE REBALANCED CHICKEN & MUSHROOM BROTH:
1/2 oz (15 g) dried porcini or mixed mushrooms, rinsed
6 cups (1.4 L) good chicken stock (low-salt / homemade)
5 oz (150 g) chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp white (shiro) miso, added gradually, to taste
1/4 tsp yeast extract (Marmite), start scant - the key fix
FOR THE GREMOLATA:
1/4 cup (15 g) flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 small clove garlic (or wild garlic in season), very finely minced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, optional
EQUIPMENT:
Large mixing bowl
Rolling pin or pasta machine
7-10 cm round cutter
Potato ricer or masher
Medium saucepan (for the filling)
Large saucepan or stockpot (for the broth)
Fine-mesh sieve or muslin
Slotted spoon
Microplane or fine grater (for the gremolata)
Clean tea towel (to rest the dumplings)
Method
STEP 1: MAKE THE DOUGH
Tip the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well. Beat the egg with the oil and most of the warm water, pour into the well and bring together to a shaggy dough, adding the last of the water only if needed.
STEP 2: KNEAD AND REST
Knead on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so the gluten relaxes and you can roll it genuinely thin.
STEP 3: COOK THE POTATOES
Boil the floury potatoes in salted water until tender, then drain very well and pass through a potato ricer or mash them smooth. Let them dry for a minute so the mix isn't wet.
STEP 4: MAKE THE FILLING
Beat in the butter, then fold through the goat's cheese and thyme while still warm. Season generously with salt and white pepper and taste - the filling should be punchy on its own, since the broth is deliberately gentle. Cool completely.
STEP 5: SOAK THE DRIED MUSHROOMS
Soak the dried porcini in 1 cup / 240 ml just-boiled water for 15 minutes. Lift them out, chop, and reserve the soaking liquid, leaving any grit behind.
STEP 6: SIMMER THE BROTH BASE
In a large pan, combine the chicken stock, mushroom soaking liquid, chopped soaked mushrooms, sliced chestnut mushrooms, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, then discard the onion, garlic and bay.
STEP 7: SEASON IN STAGES (THE FIX)
Whisk in the white miso a little at a time, then add the yeast extract a scant 1/4 teaspoon at first. Taste. Stop the moment the broth is savoury and mushroomy but still lets a spoonful of goat's cheese read clearly. Adjust salt only at the very end.
STEP 8: STRAIN THE BROTH
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or muslin for a clean, glossy broth. Keep hot.
STEP 9: ROLL AND FILL
Roll the rested dough out thinly (about 2 mm) by hand or through a pasta machine, and stamp out 7-10 cm rounds. Place a small spoon of cool filling on each, brush the edge lightly with water, fold to a half-moon and pinch firmly to seal, pleating if you like. Keep them under a tea towel.
STEP 10: COOK THE VARENIKI
Cook in batches in a wide pan of gently simmering salted water for 3-4 minutes, until they float and the dough is just cooked and translucent. Don't let the water boil hard or the seams can burst.
STEP 11: MAKE THE GREMOLATA
Mix the parsley, lemon zest, finely minced garlic (or wild garlic) and optional thyme.
STEP 12: ASSEMBLE AND SERVE
Divide the hot dumplings between warm bowls, ladle the restrained broth around them and finish with a scatter of gremolata. Serve at once, while the dumplings are soft and the gremolata bright.
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Instructions
FOR THE DUMPLING DOUGH:
2 1/2 cups (300 g) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra to dust
1/2 tsp (3 g) fine salt
1 large egg, room temperature
2 tbsp (30 ml) sunflower or light oil
2/3 cup (150 ml) warm water, approx.; add gradually
FOR THE GOAT'S CHEESE, POTATO & THYME FILLING:
1 lb (450 g) floury potatoes (Maris Piper / Russet), peeled
2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter
5 oz (150 g) soft goat's cheese (rindless log / chevre)
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, picked
Salt & white pepper, to taste
FOR THE REBALANCED CHICKEN & MUSHROOM BROTH:
1/2 oz (15 g) dried porcini or mixed mushrooms, rinsed
6 cups (1.4 L) good chicken stock (low-salt / homemade)
5 oz (150 g) chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp white (shiro) miso, added gradually, to taste
1/4 tsp yeast extract (Marmite), start scant - the key fix
FOR THE GREMOLATA:
1/4 cup (15 g) flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 small clove garlic (or wild garlic in season), very finely minced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, optional
EQUIPMENT:
Large mixing bowl
Rolling pin or pasta machine
7-10 cm round cutter
Potato ricer or masher
Medium saucepan (for the filling)
Large saucepan or stockpot (for the broth)
Fine-mesh sieve or muslin
Slotted spoon
Microplane or fine grater (for the gremolata)
Clean tea towel (to rest the dumplings)
Heading 5
Ingredients
STEP 1: MAKE THE DOUGH
Tip the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well. Beat the egg with the oil and most of the warm water, pour into the well and bring together to a shaggy dough, adding the last of the water only if needed.
STEP 2: KNEAD AND REST
Knead on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so the gluten relaxes and you can roll it genuinely thin.
STEP 3: COOK THE POTATOES
Boil the floury potatoes in salted water until tender, then drain very well and pass through a potato ricer or mash them smooth. Let them dry for a minute so the mix isn't wet.
STEP 4: MAKE THE FILLING
Beat in the butter, then fold through the goat's cheese and thyme while still warm. Season generously with salt and white pepper and taste - the filling should be punchy on its own, since the broth is deliberately gentle. Cool completely.
STEP 5: SOAK THE DRIED MUSHROOMS
Soak the dried porcini in 1 cup / 240 ml just-boiled water for 15 minutes. Lift them out, chop, and reserve the soaking liquid, leaving any grit behind.
STEP 6: SIMMER THE BROTH BASE
In a large pan, combine the chicken stock, mushroom soaking liquid, chopped soaked mushrooms, sliced chestnut mushrooms, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, then discard the onion, garlic and bay.
STEP 7: SEASON IN STAGES (THE FIX)
Whisk in the white miso a little at a time, then add the yeast extract a scant 1/4 teaspoon at first. Taste. Stop the moment the broth is savoury and mushroomy but still lets a spoonful of goat's cheese read clearly. Adjust salt only at the very end.
STEP 8: STRAIN THE BROTH
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or muslin for a clean, glossy broth. Keep hot.
STEP 9: ROLL AND FILL
Roll the rested dough out thinly (about 2 mm) by hand or through a pasta machine, and stamp out 7-10 cm rounds. Place a small spoon of cool filling on each, brush the edge lightly with water, fold to a half-moon and pinch firmly to seal, pleating if you like. Keep them under a tea towel.
STEP 10: COOK THE VARENIKI
Cook in batches in a wide pan of gently simmering salted water for 3-4 minutes, until they float and the dough is just cooked and translucent. Don't let the water boil hard or the seams can burst.
STEP 11: MAKE THE GREMOLATA
Mix the parsley, lemon zest, finely minced garlic (or wild garlic) and optional thyme.
STEP 12: ASSEMBLE AND SERVE
Divide the hot dumplings between warm bowls, ladle the restrained broth around them and finish with a scatter of gremolata. Serve at once, while the dumplings are soft and the gremolata bright.
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