Broccoli Ginger Dumplings

I'm always up for a fun, new vegetable dish to make with my six-year-old (anything that can connect fun with vegetables in her little brain has to be a good thing). This was the perfect recipe for that. She had a great time folding the dumplings. In fact, I think she may be looking for someone to produce her cooking show on the dumpling channel (see the video below). Side note to the Food Network: I would actually watch that channel.

I was a little nervous she might not appreciate the ginger in the filling, but she totally devoured these. She loved the flavor and the crunch (we all did). Not bad for a Thursday night in the suburbs (actually, down right exciting for a Thursday night in the suburbs).

BROCCOLI GINGER DUMPLINGS

Makes 60 or so (I got more like 85)

Dumplings:

2 large heads broccoli, stems removed and florets cut into thumb-sized pieces

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for pan-frying the dumplings

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese

salt and black pepper to taste

square wonton wrappers

Dipping sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup (or brown sugar)

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Dumplings:

1.          Steam the broccoli until bright green and cooked through. Let cool and then chop well.

2.          In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium, add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes, until softened. Stir in the garlic and ginger, cover and cook for about 5 minutes until nice and soft. Stir in the heavy cream, turn the heat down to simmer, and cook for a couple minutes until thickened. Stir in the broccoli.

3.          Using an immersion blender, puree the broccoli mixture until mostly smooth, but with some chunks remaining (this can also be done in a blender). Then stir in the ricotta until thoroughly combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.          Lay out about 15 wonton wrappers at a time. Place a teaspoon of broccoli puree on one side of each square (resist the temptation to overfill—if they are overfilled, your dumplings won’t seal). When ready to fold, keep a little bowl of warm water next to you to use for moistening your fingers. Use a wet finger to moisten the perimeter of each wonton square, then fold one side over onto the other and seal to make a triangle. Then, fold in the arms of the triangle and press them together with a little water. Set on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate. Once you have assembled the first 15, continue with another set of 15 and so on until you have used all the filling.

5.          To pan fry the dumplings, heat a pan to medium-high; add enough oil to coat the bottom. Put in one layer of dumplings, cover the pan and cook a couple of minutes until dark golden. Flip and cook the dumplings on the other side for another minute or two until golden. Continue, adding more oil if needed, until all the dumplings are cooked.

To bake the dumplings, preheat your oven to 400º F. Grease 1-2 baking sheets. Lay the dumplings out on the baking sheets, brush them all lightly with oil, then bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

6.          Serve dumplings warm with dipping sauce on the side.

Dipping sauce:

Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, and ginger.

To freeze dumplings:

These freeze really well (then you can use them later in soup). Lay a batch in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze until hard, 1-2 hours. Transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze until ready to cook. Cook dumplings frozen, do not defrost first.

from Five and Spice by Emily (Kuross) Vikre

broccoli

I used 3 heads because they were small-medium.

broccoli florets in steamer

onion, garlic and ginger cooking

I absent mindedly added the ricotta too early (along with the
cream). I had already mixed it in before I realized my mistake.
But the filling was fine, I just had to let it cool a little longer
(since the ricotta was no longer cold when I added it).

broccoli added, ready to puree

filling blended

spooning filling onto wonton wrapper

wonton wrappers with filling

wetting the edges

folding over

triangle

sides folded in

filled dumplings

pan-frying

fried dumplings

draining on paper towels

The recipe says the yield is 60 or so dumplings, but I
ended up with way more than that. And I don't think I could
have stuffed them any more without the filling oozing out.
(What I'm saying here is, buy extra wonton wrappers.)

making the dipping sauce (grated ginger going in)

broccoli ginger dumplings with dipping sauce

dipping

Maddie shows us how to make dumplings her way, "envelope
style". Unfortunately my rinky dink Canon PowerShot

can't even begin to capture her extreme cuteness.

Maddie's envelope dumplings before pan frying.

fried (don't worry, I did that part)

.