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Maultaschen
Serves 12-15 Prep 50 min Cook 30 min Total 1 hr 20 min Type Meal Origin German

Maultaschen

Swabia's Lent dumplings: large oblong filled pasta with a vegetarian filling of spinach, breadcrumbs, eggs and cheese. Served in broth or pan-fried with onions.

Serves 12 Prep 50 minutes Cook 30 minutes Units Rate

Overview

A simple egg-and-flour pasta dough rolls thin. The filling is spinach (frozen, thawed and squeezed dry), breadcrumbs soaked in milk, grated cheese, eggs, parsley and nutmeg. The dough rolls long; filling drops onto the bottom half; the top folds over and seals; the lot cuts into rectangles. Boiled briefly in vegetable broth or salted water; served in broth or pan-fried.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 400 g plain flour (or "00" flour)
  • 4 eggs (large)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4-6 tablespoons cold water

Filling

  • 100 g stale white bread (crusts off; torn into pieces)
  • 200 ml whole milk
  • 500 g frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
  • 1 onion (medium, finely chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 100 g gruyère cheese (or emmental, grated)
  • 50 g parmesan cheese (finely grated)
  • 2 eggs (large)
  • A grating of nutmeg
  • A small bunch of parsley (chopped)
  • salt
  • pepper

To serve

For Broth

  • 1 ½ litres vegetable stock

Pan Fried

  • 50 g butter + 1 large onion sliced
  • 4 fried eggs (optional)

Method

Stage 1 - Dough

  1. Mound the flour on a board; make a well; add eggs, salt and olive oil.
  2. Mix with a fork; bring together with hands; knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add water as needed if dry.
  3. Wrap and rest 30 minutes.

Stage 2 - Filling

  1. Soak the bread in the milk for 10 minutes.
  2. Squeeze the spinach hard to remove excess water; chop finely.
  3. Cook the onion in the butter over medium heat 6 minutes until soft. Cool slightly.
  4. Squeeze the bread dry; mash with a fork.
  5. Combine the spinach, onion, bread, both cheeses, eggs, nutmeg, parsley, salt and black pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Stage 3 - Roll and fill

  1. Divide the dough in half. Roll one half on a floured surface to a rectangle about 30 x 60 cm and 2 mm thick.
  2. Imagine the long rectangle divided horizontally in half.
  3. Spoon heaped tablespoons of filling along the bottom half, spaced about 1 cm apart, leaving a 1 cm border at the bottom.
  4. Brush around the filling with water.
  5. Fold the top half over the filling; press around each mound to expel air; seal firmly.
  6. Cut between mounds with a sharp knife or pasta wheel into rectangles roughly 8 x 12 cm.
  7. Repeat with the second half of dough.

Stage 4 - Cook

For in-broth:

  1. Bring the stock to a gentle simmer (not a hard boil - too aggressive splits the dumplings).
  2. Cook maultaschen in batches of 4-5 for 8-10 minutes until they float and the pasta is tender.
  3. Lift into bowls; ladle hot broth over.

For pan-fried:

  1. Boil the maultaschen as above; drain.
  2. Cook the sliced onion in butter over medium heat 8-10 minutes until golden.
  3. Slice each maultasche in half lengthwise.
  4. Add to the onion butter; fry 2 minutes per side.
  5. Top each plate with a fried egg.

Notes

  • Frozen spinach is fine: Fresh works too - wilt 1 kg fresh spinach, squeeze dry. Frozen is faster and gives the same result.
  • Seal carefully: Maultaschen are bigger than pierogi; air pockets cause them to burst. Press out around each mound.
  • Two ways to eat: Both classic. In-broth is the elegant version; pan-fried is the homey one.

Storage

  • Cooked maultaschen refrigerate 3 days. Frozen raw maultaschen keep 2 months - boil from frozen with 2-3 minutes extra.

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