Kreplach are pasta dumplings, filled with meat or vegetables
and boiled in a broth. They are the Ashkenazi relatives of
other types of Eastern European dumplings like the Ukrainian varenyky or the Polish pierogi. It is very likely that kreplach came
to Central and Eastern Europe via the Italian Jews who began
to resettle from the Sephardic (Spanish/Portuguese/Italian)
communities to Eastern Europe via Germany starting in the
14th century. Some sources even suggest that kreplach were
the original forefathers of Eastern European dumplings. Served
on many Jewish holidays, they are a staple during the festival
of Purim; some say the dumplings symbolise the revelation of
Esther’s Jewish identity, which hepled save her people. Here I
am offering the most universal vegetarian version, which can
be easily made vegan or indeed with meat. As for the shape,
you can come across a myriad. To me the classic kreplach is
a triangle shape, but you can pinch the triangles’ edges to
make them look very similar to Italian tortellini to enhance their
ancestral connection or opt for the half-moon shapes of their
Ukrainian and Polish siblings

Method:

• For the soup: start with the soup. In a large saucepan, heat the oil and fry all the vegetables, apart from the garlic, with a generous pinch of salt a medium heat for 20 minutes, or until softened and slightly caramelised.
• Add the garlic, dried herbs and turmeric and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in 1 litre (4 cups) water, add a generous pinch of salt, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. When the time is up, add the fresh herbs and take the pan off the heat. Let the flavours infuse while you finish the rest.
• To make the dumpling dough, mix the flour, dill and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with 80ml (23/4fl oz) water, then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Start by mixing with a fork, then gradually work the mixture with your hands to form a dough. Knead the dough for 2 minutes, cover with cling film (plastic wrap), and let it rest in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
• Place the potato in a large saucepan, cover with salted water, bring to the boil and cook until soft. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the onion with a pinch of salt over a medium heat for 15 minutes, or until caramelised. Tip into a bowl. Add a little more oil to the same pan and fry the mushrooms for 10 minutes. Tip into the bowl with the onion.
• When the potato is ready, drain, add the butter, mash, then add to the bowl with the onion and mushrooms and mix well. It might seem like very little, but this is exactly how much you’ll need for the filling.
• Dust a clean surface with some flour and work the dough for a few minutes to wake it up. Next, roll it out into a large rectangle. We are aiming for as thin a sheet as you possibly can produce. Trim off the edges to make an even rectangle (reserve the dough in the cling film), then cut the rectangle into even squares. You will probably get four vertically and seven or eight horizontally.
• Have two lightly damp dish towels ready. Cover the squares with one, and reserve the other for finished dumplings. To shape the dumplings, pick up each square, fill it with a shy teaspoon of the filling and fold it into a triangle shape, pinching all edges closed. Place under the other towel, while you finish the rest.
• Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then boil the dumplings for 5 minutes. Drain.
• To serve, place around 4 dumplings into a soup bowl and top with a ladle of broth. Season with black pepper and tuck in while everything is steaming hot.

Recipe extracted from Kapusta: Vegetable forward recipes from Eastern Europe (Quadrille) Read more about it here.