Vegan Dumplings with Mushroom and Plant-Based Mozzarella Filling

written by Julia

Make a wish: In our series “Make a wish“ we develop recipes to make your wishes come true - whether it’s about vegan french toasts or doughnuts. If you also have a recipe that we should cook for you, send us a quick mail to hello@zuckerjagdwurst.com. Until then, find all your previous wished recipes here.

I was thrilled when some follower asked for vegan "Plätzli" in our category called “Make a wish“. And I was appropriately surprised when my anticipation wasn't reciprocated in the office, because (I could barely believe it) no one there has ever eaten them. In my school days, "Plätzli" were a rare (because quite expensive), but much sought-after snack that I ate for lunch. I can't remember eating it with a side dish or a dip. Maybe because you don't even need any of it, but still, I did prepare a little side salad with it this time, and found that the lingonberry jam from my fridge was a great pairing as well.

If we go back to the origin of "Plätzli", we end up in Switzerland and a company called “Findus“ which itself writes: “When FINDUS launched the very first Plätzli in Switzerland over 60 years ago, the whole country was thrilled.“ Well, they certainly were, because what's wrong with a crispy dumpling filled with cheese? However, I know these dumplings from the company “iglo“ and namely in the varieties mushroom-mozzarella and ham-mozzarella. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think back to them sometimes, so the recipe request came in handy.

When I started to create the vegan recipe, I first studied the original ingredients. While Switzerland uses a crêpe consisting of flour, egg, oil, whey powder, corn starch, and salt, iglo mentions yeast in the list of ingredients. So I simply took the liberty of choosing a yeast dough that is based on our gözleme dough, which I thought would work well with this snack.

While the yeast dough is rising, you can prepare the filling. I chose the mushroom version, but you could also add smoked tofu or any other vegan ham substitute. If you can't find or don't like vegan mozzarella, omit it completely (the mushroom sauce should be creamy enough) or use another plant-based cheese instead. During test cooking, the others in the office prefered a vegan cheddar version, but since they never ate the original dumplings, I just had to overrule them as the mozzarella comes closer to the original. After the very first bite, old childhood memories came back immediately – so thank you for this wish recipe!

Vegan Dumplings with Mushroom and Plant-Based Mozzarella Filling

approx. 15 dumplings

60 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough:

250 g (2 cups) flour
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
125 ml (0.5 cup) warm water
1 tsp canola oil

For the filling:

400 g (14 oz) button mushrooms
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 vegan mozzarella
200 ml (0.75 cup) plant-based heavy cream
1 tsp cornstarch
0.5 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
nutmeg
lemon (juice)

Also:

100 g (3.5 oz) breadcrumbs
vegetable oil for frying
dip (e. g. lingonberry jelly) (optional)
fresh side salad (optional)

Instructions

For the dough, mix flour, salt, sugar, and active dry yeast in a large bowl. Little by little add warm water and canola oil and knead the ingredients into a smooth dough for at least 5 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add some more water. Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for approx. 30 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in volume.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. Clean and chop the mushrooms. Peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Slice the vegan mozzarella and cut each slice in half to create half circles.
Add vegetable oil to a frying pan and sauté mushrooms for approx. 10 minutes, or until they're browned. Add onion and garlic and keep frying until the onion is translucent. Pour in plant-based heavy cream and let the filling simmer for approx. 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch with some water and stir the mixture into the filling. Let simmer for approx. 2 more minutes until the mixture has thickened. Season well with salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, and a splash of lemon juice.
Once the dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and roll it out until it's about 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) thick. Cut out circles of approx. 9 cm (3.5 inches) diameter with a glass or cookie cutter. Add some of the mushroom filling and half a slice of vegan mozzarella to the center of each dough circle. Moisten the edges of the dough with some water and fold the dough over the filling to create half circle dumplings. Press the edges together to seal the dumplings so they don't open later.
Dampen the outside of the dough again with some water, then toss the dumplings in breadcrumbs until they are covered from all sides.
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the dumplings from both sides until golden brown. Serve with a dip, lingonberry jelly, or a fresh salad.