Fish and dill pierożki dumplings in rosót broth

ส่วนผสม

For the rosót broth

3 inexpensive, local fish, cleaned and gutted but with heads on

2 litres (70fl oz/8¾ cups) water

1 parsnip, peeled

1 carrot, peeled

½ onion, skin on

½ leek

½½ celeriac (celery root), peeled handful of celery leaves

2 bay leaves

5 black peppercorns

5 allspice berries

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

1 tbsp dried lovage (optional)

1 tsp dried seaweed (optional)

1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped salt and pepper

For the dough

200g (7oz/1½ cups) plain (all-purpose) four, plus extra to dust

1 tbsp oil

100ml (3½fl oz/scant ½ cup) warm water (approximate)

For the filling

200g (7oz) local fish, filleted

2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

2 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg, lightly beaten salt and white pepper

วิธีทำ

Rinse the fish for the broth and chop them in half. Put in a large pan with the measured water, parsnip, carrot, onion, leek, celeriac (celery root), celery leaves, bay leaves, peppercorns and allspice berries. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 30-35 minutes, removing any scum from the surface as it cooks.

Meanwhile, make the dough. Combine all of the dough ingredients in a big bowl and knead until it all comes together. Transfer to a floured surface and knead for a further 7-8 minutes, then put it back in the bowl, cover with a clean, damp dish towel and allow to rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

For the broth, turn the heat off after the cooking time is up and allow to cool slightly before sieving it into a clean pan. You can plop the fish heads back in and mash them for extra

flavour, then sieve back into the pan again. Take any clean, boneless fish flesh and put it in a bowl (double-check for bones), then discard everything in the sieve apart from the carrot. Dice the carrot once it's cool enough to handle and set aside. Season the broth with salt.

For the filling, put the fish fillet into the pan with the clear broth, bring it back to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 7 minutes. Remove the fish and set aside.

Season the broth to taste, adding the diced carrot, the lemon juice, the dill, lovage and dried seaweed, if using, and the parsley. Flake the fish fillet into a bowl for the filling removing any skin and checking for bones. Add the dill, breadcrumbs and the lemon juice. Mix in the egg and season well.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface to as thin as you can get it. Use your favourite shaping method to make and fill pierożki dumplings (which are smaller than pierogi and fit into a bowl nicely), see pages 20-23.

Cook the dumplings in a large pan of saltec water. Wait for them to rise to the top, then give them a further 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, shake off any excess water, put them straight into serving bowls and pour the rosót broth on top.

Serves 6-8 as a starter

หมายเหตุ

The first Polish-language cookbook was written in 1682 by Stanistaw Czerniecki and begins with Polish rosót, or clear broth. Until this day, rosót on a Sunday is considered to be the most Polish culinary tradition. Therefore, there had to be broth, even in a book about dumplings. If you would like to make your own broth, as I suggest here, then choose any local fish that is in abundance. It could be herring, whiting, gurnard - as long as it is on the bone and has the head on.

You can, of course, use the fish flesh from the broth to make the filling for the dumplings, which I used to do when I had two hours to spare to remove all the tiny bones (the time depends on the fish). Now that I'm a mother of two, I have to make things easier for myself, so this recipe is a less time-consuming and fiddly version. An even easier version is to use good-quality fish stock, then cook a fish fillet in it, of course, but I prefer to make my own delicious stock. If you decide to go for the

simplest version, then add the allspice at the same time as cooking the fish fillet and leave it

in to serve.