Beef Bolognese with Italian Dumplings
Combing Bolognese with cheesy Italian dumplings is a great big hug of a dish. Refresh your usual Bolognese, skip the pasta and enjoy a big bowl of winter comfort. I have included my usual recipe for Beef Bolognese but feel free to use your own recipe!
Serves 4
Effort: Easy/ moderate
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Gluten Free
Ingredients
Bolognese
500g beef mince
olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 can diced tomato
2 heaped tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp dried oregano
Salt
Dumplings
1/2 (110g) packet crispy coating Italian style (Pom Pom Paddock)
1/2 plain flour (Use gluten free flour here if needed)
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g melted butter
1 egg, whisked
100g grated cheese (parmesan & tasty mixed)
1/4 cup milk
A pinch of salt
Method
Bolognese
Preheat the oven to 200c/ 180c fan. Heat olive oil in a deep oven proof pan. Sauté the onion, celery & carrot until softened & slightly coloured, add minced garlic and cook for a further 4 mins until fragrant.
Add mince, cook stirring and breaking down the meat until browned.
Pour in the red wine, diced tomato, tomato paste & oregano. Stir to combine & season with salt. Place the lid on and pop it in the oven while you make the dumpling mixture - it wants about 20-25 mins.
Dumplings
Place 110g (half a packet) Italian crispy coating mix into a medium sized bowl with the flour, baking powder & salt, stir to combine.
Mix in melted butter, whisked egg, cheese & milk to form a soft sticky dough. The dough needs to be quite soft so add a splash more milk if needed.
Remove Bolognese from the oven and give it a quick stir. It should still have plenty of liquid/ sauce through the meat - this is good as the dumplings will soak some of it up while they are cooking.
Using floured hands or two spoons, divide mixture into golf ball sized blobs and place on top of the Bolognese. You should get 8 balls. making sure you leave space between as they will double in size when cooked.
Place the lid on the pan and cook in the oven for 15-20 mins.
Hints & tips
Dumplings - Placing the lid on the pan steams the dumplings to give a nice fluffy texture. If you would like to brown the top of your dumplings cook with the lid on for 10 mins then remove for the last 5-10 mins.
Bolognese - Cooking for a crowd, double your Bolognese mixture and prepare ahead of time. Reheat while you throw together your dumpling mixture for a quick hearty crowd pleaser.
Freezing - This dish can be frozen. Double your Bolognese and take half out before adding the dumpling mixture. Freeze it for another time.
