Cheese dumplings with pumpkin

Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes Number of servings: over 1 kg of dish In 100 g of dish: Energy value 136 kcal Carbohydrates 19 g - Including sugars 8 g Protein 6 g Fats 4 g Diet: low-fat, vegetarian.

• very thick baked pumpkin - pulp 200 g
• ground cottage cheese or natural Almette cheese 250 g
• all-purpose wheat or light spelt flour 160 g
• medium-sized egg 55 g - 1 piece
• a large pinch of salt
• plums or apples 500 g
• clarified butter 30 g
• cane sugar 30 g
• half a teaspoon of cinnamon

Cheese dumplings with pumpkin

Before you start preparing the dumplings, I recommend reading the entire recipe first to prepare well in advance for the next steps.

It's worth buying a larger piece of pumpkin ahead of time and roasting a spare, which you can then use to make pumpkin pie or, for example, cream soup. The best pumpkins for dumplings are Muscat de Provence and butternut squash, which have orange flesh and a melon-like flavor. Hokkaido squash will have a beautiful, intense color but a more nutty flavor. This pumpkin can be roasted and blended with its skin.

Wash, seed, and peel the pumpkin. If you have a Hokkaido pumpkin, don't peel the skin; instead, roast it with the flesh, as it's edible. I used a Provençal pumpkin. I cut it into smaller pieces, about 5 cm in size. Place the pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Roast the pumpkin for about 25-35 minutes, until tender. Test with a fork. Blend the roasted pumpkin until smooth using a giraffe hand blender, then weigh out 200 grams of the pulp, which you will use for the dumplings.

Pour 160 grams (one cup) of all-purpose flour or light spelt flour into a bowl. Then add 200 grams of previously baked and blended pumpkin pulp, as well as 250 grams of ground cottage cheese or natural Almette cheese. Finally, beat in another medium-sized egg and a generous pinch of salt.

Tip: You can also use unground cottage cheese, like the one from a block, for the dumplings. Simply knead it with a fork. This type of cottage cheese will be much drier than ground and fluffier. Therefore, you'll likely need to add one to two tablespoons less flour.

Mix the dough thoroughly until smooth. I use a regular spoon. The dough should be very thick, but still sticky.

In a wide pot, bring water to a boil. Add a level teaspoon of salt as soon as the water begins to boil. Salting the water is not necessary, however. Briefly dip a tablespoon (like you would for soup) in the boiling water. Scoop a little dough onto it (about half a tablespoon) and use a second spoon to remove the slightly elongated dumplings, straight into the boiling water. Immediately stir the dumplings gently and carefully. After the dumplings float to the surface, wait about 2 minutes. Remove all the dumplings, drain off excess water, and place them on a wide plate or salad bowl. Cook all the portions this way. After cooking, each dumpling will have a slightly different shape, and they will expand slightly as they cook. Monitor the heat continuously. The water should be simmering, but not boiling.

Tip 1: Don't put too many dumplings in the boiling water at once. They should float side by side, but not overlap. The water should be simmering constantly, but not so vigorously that the dumplings fall apart. Adding a little oil to the boiling water can also help.

Tip 2: Everyone forms dumplings of slightly different sizes and thicknesses, so cooking times may vary. If you're unsure whether your dumplings are cooked through, after about 2 minutes of cooking the first batch, scoop out one and cut it open to check for any raw material inside. Based on this test, adjust the cooking time and cook subsequent batches in the same manner.

At the very end of the season, I used plums for the last time. Weigh out 500g of plums, pit them, and quarter them. Smaller plums can be cut in half. If you prefer apples, they'll work just as well. Peel them, core them, quarter them, and then dice them to 1.5cm. Heat a pan. Add 30g of cane sugar (or white sugar, add more if necessary) and at least 30g of clarified butter. Add the chopped fruit and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 5-10 minutes, until the fruit is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly. If you want more sauce, add a little water or agave syrup.

Pour hot plum or apple sauce and fruit over the still warm dumplings and serve immediately.

Enjoy your meal.