Maultaschen (Swabian Filled Pasta Pockets)

Ingredients

• 300 g wheat flour
• 3 egg
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 250 g ground pork
• 200 g spinach
• 2 onion, finely diced
• 40 g breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 50 g butter
• 1¼ l beef stock

Method

1. 1.

   Knead and rest the dough — Mound the flour on the worktop, make a well and add 2 of the eggs, the oil, half the salt and 3 tbsp water. Knead for a full 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes.

2. 2.

   Wilt and squeeze the spinach — Wilt the spinach in a dry pan for 2 minutes, tip it into a sieve and press out every drop of water once cool, then chop it finely. Wet filling is what makes the pockets burst.

3. 3.

   Mix the pork filling — Soften half the onion in 10 g of the butter, then mix it with the pork, spinach, breadcrumbs, the remaining egg, the nutmeg, parsley, remaining salt and the pepper. The filling should hold its shape on a spoon.

4. 4.

   Fill, seal and cut — Roll the dough out paper-thin into two long sheets. Spoon the filling in a line down one half of each sheet, brush the edges with water, fold the dough over, press out all the air from the middle outwards and seal. Cut into 8 cm squares and crimp the edges with a fork.

5. 5.

   Poach in the stock — Bring the stock to a bare simmer in a wide pan. Slide the Maultaschen in a few at a time and poach for 12 minutes, keeping the surface barely trembling — a rolling boil will split them open.

6. 6.

   Fry the buttered onions — Meanwhile fry the remaining onion in the rest of the butter over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes, until deep golden and sweet at the edges.

7. 7.

   Serve in the broth — Serve two or three Maultaschen per person in a deep bowl with a ladle of the poaching broth, topped with the buttered onions and a little more parsley.