Baked dumplings with mushrooms and lentil

December 13, 2021

Have you tried baked yeast dumplings before? They are perfect as a vegetarian addition to soups, e.g. borscht, vegetable or mushroom broth. Delicate soft dough filled with mushrooms, green lentils and a little cheese, sprinkled with nigella seeds. Delicious! You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make these dumplings, and their preparation is not as laborious as it may seem.

Baked dumplings with mushrooms are a great vegetarian alternative to traditional meat dumplings. For the filling you can use your favourite ingredients, e.g. spinach with ricotta cheese, cabbage with wild mushrooms, groats with cooked vegetables or even stuffing for Russian dumplings. Use whatever you like, just make sure that filling is well seasoned, otherwise, dumplings will turn out bland.

Yeast dumplings - which yeast to choose?

In this recipe, I always use active dry yeast and I add them directly to the other ingredients. The dough rises nicely and quickly, so there is no need to proof your yeast unless you suspect that it might be too old. In this case, it’s worth doing it. It’s also important that milk is not too hot otherwise, it’ll kill the yeast.

If you wish to use fresh yeast then they need to be proofed. To proof yeast, mix the fresh yeast, a teaspoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, lukewarm milk (half a serving), and set aside for about 10-15 minutes. After this time, the mixture should foam up and increase its volume. Add the prepared mixture to the rest of the ingredients and follow the recipe.

From this recipe, you’ll prepare about 15 large dumplings. Importantly, if you make smaller dumplings, they’ll bake quicker, so make sure you check them frequently.

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Baked dumplings with mushrooms and lentil

Baked dumplings - great as a vegetarian addition to soups, e.g. borscht, vegetable or mushroom broth.

Print Pin Recipe

Prep Time 50

Raising Time 1

Total Time 1 50

Course Side, Appetiser

Servings 15

Equipment

Stand mixer / Hand mixer

Ingredients

Dumplings dough

300 g flour
200 ml milk
40 g butter (well softened)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp active dried yeast (or 25 g fresh yeast)
pinch of salt
1 egg (for egg wash)
nigella seeds (optional)

Filling

500 g mushrooms
100 g cheese (grated)
1 onion
¼ cup cooked lentil (green)
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp herbs de Provence
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Instructions

Start by making the dough. In a bowl of a stand mixer, put all the dough ingredients (if using fresh yeast, they need to be proofed) except the butter, mix briefly with a spoon. Then, using the hook attachment, knead the dough for about 5 minutes, then add the very soft butter, continue kneading for about 3-5 minutes.
Transfer the kneaded dough into a large bowl sprinkled with flour, cover with a clean cloth and leave to rise for about an hour. After this time, the dough should double in volume.
Rinse the lentils in a sieve and cook in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the finely chopped onion and fry over low heat for a few minutes until soft. Then add the mushrooms (peeled or cleaned), cut into thin slices. Mushrooms will release a lot of water, fry them until most of the water has evaporated, add herbs de Provence, season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool, then mix with lentils.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Divide the dough into smaller pieces. Put each of them on a floured countertop, roll it out to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Using a glass or mug, cut out large circles. Put a portion of the filling and a little grated cheese, in the centre of each circle, form as in the case of traditional dumplings, sticking the edges together. Place the dumplings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Additionally, you can press the edges with a fork.
Place your dumplings aside for 15 minutes. After this time, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle them with the nigella seeds. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, they should be browned but not too dry. The dumplings may seem hard right out of the oven, but they will soften slightly. Serve with borscht or broth. Enjoy your meal!