Koldunai - Lithuanian Tortellini
Ingredients
Dough
1kg plane flour 00 grade
500mls water
1 teaspoon salt
Meat Filling
1kg minced pork
1 large onion
3-4 cloves garlic
4-5 sprigs Dill
1 &1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 &1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Method
Meat mixture
Add onion, garlic and dill into food processor or blender and zap together
Add onion mixture to the minced pork, along with salt, marjoram and black pepper
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly with hands
Allow mixture to stand and marinade in a fridge, preferably overnight
Dough
Mix together the flour, water and salt by hand until it forms a dough.
Allow to stand for an hour covered with a damp cloth.
Assemble koldunai
Roll out a portion of the dough, either by hand or preferably using a pasta machine, dough should be roughly 1mm thick (setting 2 if using KitchenAid or pasta machine)
Cut dough into circles about 2&1/2 inches (6/7cm) in diameter
Add about a teaspoon of meat mixture into the centre of each dough circle, fold the dough on itself to form a semi circle and seal edges with fingers. Pull the two bottom edges of the dough semi-circle together to form classic tortellini shape and press joint firmly
Flour the back side of each koldunai and place onto a baking tray, complete this until the tray is full. Place the full tray in the freezer for about an hour
Remove from freezer and divide koldunai into portions of 20 and place into freezer bags. Return to freezer until needed.
Cooking
Always cook koldunai from frozen
Fill a pan about 3/4 full and add tablespoon of salt, bring to boil
Once boiling add koldunai and boil for about 10/12 minutes. They are cooked once they are floating
Serving
Strain koldunai and serve in a bowl, about 10 koldunai is a good size portion. Add a knob of butter and sprinkle black pepper, they can be eaten like this or soured cream or mayonnaise can also be added
