Vegan Pretzel Dumplings with Chanterelle Ragout
The fifth season of the year has begun: it's (potato) dumpling season! They are definitely one of our favorite side dishes, even if they are a bit more effortful in preparation than rice or simple boiled potatoes. With their soft texture that is just made to soak up any creamy sauce, they roll straight into our hearts
Usually, most bread or potato dumplings are made with eggs as a binding agent, but we've already proven that you can easily make them vegan. Remember our mini bread dumplings, wild garlic dumplings, sweet yeast dumplings, apricot-filled dumplings or our classic potato dumplings? Instead of eggs, we usually mix soy or chickpea flour with some water or plant-based milk, which helps to hold the ingredients together. Starch also does this job perfectly.
We've always looked enviously at pretzel dumplings on the plates of others in restaurants as they are usually not vegan. Originally, pretzel dumplings come from Bavaria and are a perfect use for pretzels from the day before. We serve them with a creamy chanterelle sauce which is a quite classic choice. If chanterelles are not in season, you can use any other mushrooms or even dried mushrooms instead. And while we're at it: chanterelles are in season from mid-June to the end of October. When buying them, make sure to look our for fresh, undamaged mushrooms that smell good. Also try to avoid lots of broken bits as they make it quite hard to clean them. Regarding cleaning chanterelles, we wrote down a few tips in the recipe below.
Vegan Pretzel Dumplings with Chanterelle Ragout
Ingredients
For the pretzel dumplings:
- 3 (approx. 300 g, 10.5 oz) pretzels
- 10 g (0.33 oz) parsley
- 2 shallots
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 30 g (1 oz) soy flour
- 100 ml (0.5 cup) plant-based milk
- nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
For the chanterelle ragout:
- 300 g (10.5 oz) chanterelles
- 1 shallot
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 100 ml (0.5 cup) vegetable broth
- 150 ml (0.66 cup) plant-based heavy cream
- 10 g (0.33 oz) parsley
- 0.5 lemon
- nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
Pretzel dumplings
- Halve pretzels lengthwise, then use a serrated knife to finely chop them. You can also tear apart the pretzels by hand. Wash and finely chop parsley.
- Peel and finely dice shallots. Melt vegan butter in a frying pan and fry shallots until translucent.
- Mix soy flour and plant-based milk in a large bowl. Add pretzels, chopped parsley, and fried shallots. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then knead the mixture by hand until combined. Let rest for approx. 10 minutes.
- Form the mixture into 6 round dumplings and let rest for another 5 minutes.
Tip: If you're not able to form dumplings out of the mixture it might be that the pretzel chunks were too big. In this case, knead the mixture longer and sturdier until it's shapeable and more fine. The longer you knead the mixture, the easier it will be to form them.
- Heat a large pan with vegan butter and fry the dumplings for 15 minutes under a closed lid. Add some water (50 - 100 ml) after 5 minutes of frying.
Chanterelles ragout
- Clean chanterelles with a damp kitchen towel. There's often dirt or sand in their lamellaes, so clean them thoroughly. You can also do this with a tiny vegetable brush. Peel and finely dice the shallot.
Tip: A kitchen brush is particularly suitable for cleaning, as it allows you to get into the slats quickly. Otherwise, a damp kitchen towel or brush will help.
- Melt vegan buter in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry chanterelles for approx. 10 minutes. Add diced shallots and keep frying until they are translucent. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Dust the mushroom mix with flour and fry for another minute. Then add vegetable broth and carefully stir. Once it's incorporated, stir in plant-based heavy cream. Let the sauce simmer for approx. 5 minutes. You can always add more heavy cream if desired.
- Wash and finely chop parsley. Set some of it aside for serving, and add most of the parsley to the sauce. Season the sauce with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.
- Serve chanterelle ragout and pretzel dumplings on plates and sprinkle with remaining parsley.
