Romanian Cottage Cheese Dumplings – Papanasi fierti
These Romanian cottage cheese dumplings with semolina or papanasi fierti are incredibly tender and coated in sugary breadcrumbs.
Servings: 20 dumplings
Calories: 443kcal
Equipment
- Large pot
Ingredients
Papanasi mixture:
- 1⅛ cups cottage cheese 9 oz/ 250 g, Notes 1, 2
- 1 medium egg
- ¼ cup semolina 1.7 oz/ 50 g
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour 1.7 oz/ 50 g
- 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- a good pinch of salt
Breadcrumb coating:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup dry breadcrumbs 2.5 oz/ 75 g
- 2 tablespoons sugar or more to taste
- more flour for the working surface
Instructions
- Drain: Place the cottage cheese into a fine-mesh sieve and drain thoroughly.1⅛ cups cottage cheese/ 250 g
- Toast breadcrumbs: Start by preparing the breadcrumbs. Melt the butter in a large pan, add the breadcrumbs, and stir for a few minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden. Transfer to a large bowl and let them get cool. When cold, add the sugar and mix well.¾ cup dry breadcrumbs/ 75 g + 2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons sugar
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a good pinch of salt.
- Combine: In the meantime, mix the drained cottage cheese, egg, and vanilla sugar in a bowl. With the immersion blender, blend the ingredients until you obtain a rough paste. Add the semolina and the flour and mix with a spoon. The dough should be soft and a little bit sticky but still manageable.cottage cheese + 1 medium egg + ¼ cup semolina/ 50 g + ⅓ cup all-purpose flour/ 50 g + 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
- Dough: Sprinkle the working surface generously with flour. Turn the dough into the flour and form a ball. If the dough is too soft and you cannot really work with it, gradually add a little more flour. Don't overdo it, or the dumplings will turn out too tough. The dough should be very soft, and it is ok if it is still a bit sticky.
- Make dumplings: Flour your hands and form a sausage, about 1 – 1½ inches/ 3-4 cm in diameter. Cut the sausage into about 20 pieces. With floured hands, roll each piece into a ball. Turn this ball very lightly through the flour on the working surface (only if it's highly sticky), shake to remove the excess flour, and press into a disc. With a floured finger, press a small dent in the middle of the dumpling.
- Cook dumplings: When the water is boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low. Place all the dumplings into the pot. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, so take a slotted spoon and go under the dumplings to prevent them from sticking to the pot. After a few minutes, the dumplings will come up. Cover the pan and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and let the dumplings in hot water for another 5 minutes.
- Coat with breadcrumbs: Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon, drain them in a sieve and roll each dumpling in the breadcrumb mixture. Serve warm as they are or topped with some runny jam.
Notes
- Cheese: Traditionally, papanasi fierti are made with Romanian brânză de vaci, which may be hard to find outside of Romania. The closest alternative is cottage cheese, but since it has a different texture, it’s important to blend it until smooth for the best results.
- Measurements: I recommend using a digital kitchen scale (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
Nutrition
Serving: 5dumplings | Calories: 443kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 465mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g