Potato Dumplings with Fried Seitan and Onions in Gravy and Vegan Cream Savoy Cabbage

This meal is probably the culinary collaboration of Isa's and my family traditions. A handshake of East and Southwest Germany, if you like. And that at Christmas – how romantic!

When we were thinking about which dumplings we wanted to cook for our theme week, it was clear that I also had to make my family's “green dumplings,” which we traditionally eat on December 24. So I texted my mother to see if she could send me the recipe and got a somewhat cryptic reply. “Unfortunately, there is no real recipe – you will have to testcook. Quantities like “maybe ten potatoes,” “about a third of the weight of the potatoes,” “some potato starch,” and “I take a look in the pot and sometimes it's more sometimes it's less” were part of her message. As much as I would've liked a concrete recipe, I also liked her answer because that's just how a lot of old family recipes are – these dishes are often cooked intuitively as perhaps not all ingredients were always available.

To still offer you a recipe, I had to test cook, just like my mother wrote. But let's get briefly to the dumpling theory before: „green dumplings“ actually consist of both raw and cooked potatoes. The ratio varies depending on the recipe, but as you can see, there are only raw potatoes in our recipe. It's a simplified and quicker version if you don't want to boil and mash potatoes first. In order for the raw potato mixture to hold together, semolina is cooked with some water and then added as a paste. The potato starch provides extra binding – you can either add it store-bought or use the starch that settles after squeezing out the grated potatoes vigorously. Once the dough is done, damp your hands, and form it into round dumplings. Then cook the potatoes dumplings in simmering, not boiling, water. The water should be just before bubbling.

Usually, my family eats red cabbage and (for me) vegan roulades or vegan goulash as sides to these dumplings, but since we already have those recipes on the blog, I wanted to try something different: it's called “Zwiebelrostbraten” which is fried beef and onions in gravy. And that brings us to Isa because this is actually a classic Swabian dish that, of course, likes to be served with spaetzle. I still somehow managed to prepare it without ever eating a “Zwiebelrostbraten” and got the biggest compliment from Isa, who said that it reminds her of her childhood. Instead of roast beef, we're using seitan, which is steamed in advance and then pan-fried. It ends up in a sauce made with plenty of onions, vegan red wine, and vegetable broth.

Dumplings and seitan are served with savoy cabbage in a creamy sauce, but you can also combine all of our hearty Christmas components with it. We alternatively have Brussels sprouts, red cabbage, oven roasted carrots and sauerkraut on offer.

One last note before we start: This recipe is quite complex with all its components. I have written down the recipe in a way that helps you to use the waiting time to continue with the next component. Therefore, the dish is super for cooking with a group because if you make the recipe with more people, it's prepared much faster (and it's also even more fun).