Cheese-Stuffed Dumplings + Pesto and Roasted Asparagus – soft dumplings stuffed with melted mozzarella cheese, topped with pesto and roasted asparagus – this will quickly become your favorite meatless meal!
Whoa – you guys – these things are amazing! I kind of went out on a limb with this one. Absolutely no idea what I was doing and somehow it came together just perfectly. This is officially my current favorite meatless meal….
Do you guys remember my Meatballs and Dumplings recipe? (it just happened to be the most popular post of 2016…) Well, I got this idea in my head to try and stuff those same dumplings with cheese. So…. I pulled up my Meatballs and Dumplings recipe and made a batch of the dumpling dough. Then, I divided the dough into 4 sections. I took one of the four sections and made to small “pancakes” out of them. I placed one “pancake” on my hand….
Then I grabbed a chunk of mozzarella and placed it in the middle of the pancake…
Then I took the second “pancake” and placed it on top of the mozzarella and formed it into a ball.
Voila. (Sorry for the ugly pictures….)
Since I was serving them with pesto, which you don’t want to put in a pot and bring to a simmer (it would burn), I opted to just steam the dumplings. I took my pasta pot and filled the bottom with water – just enough so that it was below the insert. I sprayed the pasta insert with non-stick spray and placed the dumplings on top. I covered and let the water simmer/boil for 12-14 minutes.
Yes. It does look weird. I was thinking the same thing. But this was before they were cooked…. if that makes you feel better…
About the same time you can roast your asparagus and then immediately mix with your pesto, which will warm the pest up too.
Serve the dumplings over the pesto/asparagus – drizzle with some olive oil and garnish with some chunks of fresh parmesan cheese. So, so good.
I can’t get over how good this was! I need to come up with more ideas like this….
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Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk, sub almond milk
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 8 ounce fresh mozzarella ball
- 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces with tough ends removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, sub canola or vegetable oil (more for serving)
- 8 ounces basil pesto
- fresh parmesan cheese chunks, for garnish
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Make Dough: Combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup milk, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt in a mixing bowl until it forms a dough. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Take one part and divide that in half again – forming small "pancakes".
- Add Cheese: Put one "pancake" on your hand and then take approximately 1-2 tablespoons mozzarella cheese and place in the center. Take the second "pancake" and place on top. Gently bring the two "pancakes" together to form a ball with the mozzarella at the center. Repeat with the remaining 3 chunks of dough.
- Steam Dumplings: Once you have 4 balls of dough, take a pasta pot (with the steamer basket) and add enough water so that when you put the insert in, the water is just below it. Put the insert in the pot and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Put the dumplings inside the insert. Bring the water to a simmer and cover for 12 minutes. The dumplings will be done when they are fairly firm to the touch.
- Roast Asparagus: Put your asparagus chunks in a small bowl and drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil on top and 1 teaspoon kosher salt; toss to coat. On an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, spread out asparagus. Roast for about 5-7 minutes, or until asparagus is tender (feel free to do it longer if you want a more charred asparagus).
- Add Pesto: As soon as the asparagus comes out of the oven, combine it with 8 ounces basil pesto and set aside, keeping warm.
- Serve: Place your desired amount of asparagus/pesto in shallow bowl and then add 2 dumplings. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with fresh parmesan cheese chunks. Enjoy!
John Rhoe says
Unique and good work! I have this on my special dinner list and figure on feeding Kieth, Virgil, Jamie and Katy. Sounds like a dinner party to me!