Kopytka (Polish potato dumplings)

I have to admit I made the kopytka for today’s dinner party a day ahead (more people turned up than I’d expected, incidentally, about 4 times as many). So, yesterday. I had a very mundane reason. I’d never made them in my life and I was worried that if they went wrong it would be a disaster, but at least I’d have time to put it right. Good thing I did. I mean, I didn’t make them twice, but in my very humble opinion kopytka are much better the next day. Mine were, anyway. Yesterday I thought they were too soft and didn’t taste of much, but today my tasters gave them quite a respectable verdict.

I think I’ll make them more often (hardly difficult, considering this was my first time), because they seem like accommodating little things. Particularly with saucy dishes. Today I didn’t have a classic sauce as such, but I did have some rather nice apples and apricots to put on top, which I’d braised with the duck breast. And of course I spooned over the fat that had rendered out of the duck breasts. A delicious calorie bomb.

At a glance:

Prep time: 90 minutes (that’s how long it took me. I cooked the potatoes, waited ages for them to cool, then made the dough, brought water to the boil again… it all added up)

Serves: 3 people

How many calories? Ask in Poznań. They know their spuds there.

Ingredients for kopytka:

• About a kilogram of peeled potatoes (spuds, taters, whatever you call them)
• a glass of flour (roughly, sometimes you need to add a little more)
• one hen’s egg
• a tablespoon of salt
• a splash of olive oil (I’m not really sure what for, but I added it because I thought the dumplings would all stick together otherwise)
• ground black pepper

The recipe (mostly cooking, twice, and kneading):

The recipe is, of course, exceptionally primitive, though I have to admit that kneading the kopytka dough itself is a bit nerve-racking. I’ll get to that in a moment. First I boiled the peeled potatoes in lightly salted water (this takes about 20 minutes). Oh, and for complete beginners: potatoes go into cold water and then you put the pot over the “flame” (you don’t drop them into boiling water as you would rice or pasta). I tried not to overcook them. That was probably a mistake, because afterwards I had trouble mashing them smooth (getting rid of the potato lumps, in other words).

Once they were cooked, I let them cool a little and mashed them until they were reasonably smooth. I set them aside to cool completely. By the time Bayern had scored three against Borussia, the potatoes were cold. And now the art of kopytka-making begins. In a deep pot I shaped the crushed potatoes (more of a mash by now) into a mound with a hole in the middle (a sort of volcano with a crater). I cracked the hen’s egg into the crater and added the flour. Not all at once, just about 3/4 of a glass to start with. First I mixed it with a spoon (at this stage of making dough I always think, why muck up your hands already when you’ll probably have to add more flour in a minute?). Of course I did need more flour, so in it went.

From here on, it’s all in the hands. I kneaded the dough quickly and fairly deftly until it was uniform and didn’t stick to the pot. It was still sticking to my paws, so I went and washed them. Another little knead with clean paws and it was done. I divided the ball of dough into 4 smaller balls and rolled each into a rope about 25 cm long. I cut each rope into dumplings no more than 1–2 cm wide.

I brought water to the boil, salted it lightly, added a few drops of olive oil and dropped in the kopytka. Not all of them at once (I did it in 3 batches). Each time I gave them a gentle stir with a slotted spoon so they wouldn’t stick together. Once they floated to the top, I cooked them for about another 3 minutes and lifted them out onto a plate with the slotted spoon.

The kopytka came out slippery and terribly wet. When I tasted them, they seemed entirely too soft. I waited for them to cool. Cold, they weren’t nearly as soft, and I decided they might not be perfect but they’d do for today’s dinner. I put them in a deep bowl and drizzled them lightly with a few drops of olive oil. A gentle stir and into the fridge.

Today, just before dinner, I sprinkled them with ground black pepper and warmed them up in a few drops of olive oil. The result surprised me, but it also confirmed my theory that they taste best reheated. Enjoy!