Cepelinai

Ingredients

• 1.6 kg floury potatoes, peeled, for grating
• 400 g floury potatoes, peeled, for boiling
• 1 small onion, finely grated, for the dough
• 2 tsp salt, for the dough
• 2 tbsp potato starch, if needed
• 450 g minced pork
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt, for the filling
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 0.5 tsp dried marjoram
• 200 g smoked streaky bacon, cut into small lardons
• 1 onion, finely chopped, for the sauce
• 250 g soured cream
• 100 ml single cream
• 2 tbsp chopped dill, to serve

Before you cook

• Peel the 400 g of boiling potatoes, cut them into chunks and boil them in salted water for 18 minutes until soft, then drain and mash them smooth and leave to cool.
• Mix the minced pork with the finely chopped onion, egg, 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper and the marjoram until well combined, then divide it into eight balls.
• Peel the remaining 1.6 kg of potatoes and grate them finely into a large bowl of cold water to stop them browning.

Steps

1. Tip the grated potato into a large muslin cloth or clean tea towel set over a bowl.
2. Twist the cloth hard and wring out as much liquid as you possibly can, catching every drop in the bowl.
3. Leave the collected potato water to stand for 10 minutes so the starch settles as a white paste at the bottom.
4. Pour the clear water off the top carefully and keep the white starch behind.
5. Scrape that starch into the bowl with the dry grated potato.
6. Add the cooled mashed potato, the grated onion and 2 teaspoons of salt, then work everything together into a stiff, tacky dough.
7. Squeeze a handful: if it slumps and weeps, work in the potato starch a spoonful at a time until it holds its shape.
8. Bring a very large pot of well-salted water to a gentle boil, using at least 4 litres so the dumplings have room.
9. Wet your hands, take an eighth of the potato dough and flatten it into a thick oval in your palm.
10. Sit a ball of pork filling in the middle and fold the dough up and around it, sealing every seam and smoothing the outside into a pointed zeppelin.
11. Shape the remaining seven dumplings the same way, keeping your hands wet.
12. Lower the cepelinai into the water one at a time and give the pot a gentle stir with a wooden spoon so none settle on the base.
13. Simmer them uncovered for 30 minutes, keeping the water just below a hard boil so they do not split.
14. Put the bacon lardons in a cold frying pan and set it over medium heat.
15. Fry the bacon for 8 minutes until crisp and the fat has run out.
16. Add the chopped onion for the sauce and cook for 6 minutes until golden in the bacon fat.
17. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the soured cream and single cream.
18. Return the pan to the lowest heat and warm the sauce for 3 minutes without letting it boil.
19. Lift the cepelinai out of the water with a slotted spoon, draining them well, and set two on each plate.
20. Spoon the bacon sauce over the top and scatter with dill.