Vegan Dumpling Cordon Bleu
I suspect you're looking at the photos for this recipe and thinking: „Yes, that looks like a cordon bleu on a bed of lettuce. And where are the dumplings now?“ HA! You thought wrong! The photos don't show a classic cordon bleu made from meat (or meat substitutes) or anything similar, but a cordon bleu made from a dumpling. Or a dumpling that is prepared like a cordon bleu. Huh? You probably have even more question marks in your head now than before, so let's go through the recipe step by step.
The dumpling dough: We start our recipe with a classic dumpling dough made from potatoes. However, instead of forming round dumplings from our dough and cooking them in water, we form „schnitzel-like“ dumpling patties. The dough contains only waxy potatoes, potato starch, vegan butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
The filling: We then fill the flattened dumpling dough with a slice of vegan cheese and vegan sausage. In the classic way, as you would expect from a cordon bleu. We bought vegan cheese in one piece or as a block and were able to cut slightly thicker slices easily. If you can only find sliced cheese, simply place two slices on top of each other. For the sausage, we also used a sliced version, which you can usually find in the fridge as a vegan meat sausage.
The breading: As soon as you have hidden the vegan cheese and meat in your dumpling dough, it's time for the breading. We have created a classic breading line using flour, vegan milk and panko breadcrumbs and breaded each cordon bleu twice. Of course, you can also replace the panko with regular breadcrumbs, but then your cordon bleu dumplings will be less crispy. When frying in the pan, you can add plenty of oil to ensure the Cordon Bleu is really crispy.
The salad: We opted for a simple salad as a side dish and made a quick mustard dressing to go with it. Baked Brussels sprouts, sauerkraut or gravy, would certainly also go well with it.
And now, hopefully, all the question marks are out of your head, and you can finally get started with your Cordon Bleu dumplings. Or rather, dumpling Cordon Bleu. Wait, how again?
Vegan Dumpling Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
For the dumpling dough:
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) waxy potatoes
- 125 g (4.5 oz) potato starch
- 65 g vegan butter (room temperature)
- 1–2 tsp ground nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
For the filling:
- 100 g (3.5 oz) vegan cheese in one piece
- 100 g (3.5 oz) vegan sausage in one piece
For breading/frying:
- flour
- plant-based milk
- panko / breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil
For the salad:
- wild herb salad
- 1.5 tsp dijon mustard
- 3 tsp maple syrup
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
Place the potatoes in a pan covered generously with cold water and salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook over medium heat for approximately 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. Then drain and leave to evaporate while still warm.
Peel the potatoes and mash them with potato masher until the mashed potatoes no longer contain any large chunks. Add the potato starch, flour and soft vegan butter and mix everything into a dough. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Cut the vegan cheese and sausage into eight slices each for the filling.
Divide the dumpling dough into 16 equal portions. Place one portion of dough on your hand and flatten. Place a slice of vegan cheese and sausage in the middle of the dough and a second slice of dumpling dough on top. Join the two pieces of dough together so that the filling is well-sealed. Continue with the remaining dumpling dough until the dough and filling are used up.
Prepare three deep plates for breading: fill one plate with flour, one with plant-based milk, and the last with panko. First, dip each cordon bleu in the flour so that the breading holds well. Then, dip them in plant-based milk and turn them in panko immediately afterward. To make the breading even crispier, dip the cordon bleu in plant-based milk again and then coat it in panko.
Heat enough vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Fry the cordon bleu on each side for 3–4 minutes until golden brown. Then drain on some kitchen paper.
Mix the dijon mustard and maple syrup together for the salad dressing in a bowl and slowly add the olive oil. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Wash the wild herb salad and mix with the dressing just before serving.
Serve the stuffed dumplings on the salad.
