The last week of August was Dumpling Week on WBUR. Miss Niss listened to a dumpling story from a different country each morning on her way to work that week. From Italian tortellini to Chinese fried dumplings, there’s a lot of ways to look at dumplings.
That same week, I saw a chef prepare pizza dumplings on an episode of Restaurant Impossible. When the universe tries to tell me something, I listen. 
The idea of pizza dumplings had the Mr. a little apprehensive about what was going on in the kitchen, but he was raving about the end result. Most of my dumplings were just cheese though. I learned the hard way that unless you have a really big dumpling wrapper, adding sauce gets really messy. But cheese alone works perfectly!
I can’t give you exact measurements of my ingredients because I didn’t measure. For my filling, I used a mixture of equal parts part skim ricotta cheese and low fat shredded mozzarella cheese, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. For my sauce, I popped a large can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes in a large sauce pan and simmered until it resembled sauce, using a wooden spoon to break up the tomato as it cooked.
I used almost a whole package of Chinese wonton wrappers. I spooned some filling into the center of the wontons and followed the wrapper directions for folding the wonton. I’d also recently seen Joanne Chang make her dumplings on TV and remembered she said it’s important to let your dumplings sit before you fry them, so I filled and folded all of my dumplings before I began to heat my oil.
I used vegetable oil in a medium sized sauce pan. I also can’t tell you how hot my oil was because my thermometer cracked in the middle before the desired temperature was reached. To test your oil to make sure it is hot enough, plop an extra wonton wrapper into the pot. If it bubbles and browns quickly, you’re ready to make fried dumplings!
The dumplings cooked for about a minute on each side. They really puffed up!
I placed a few paper towels on a plate to drain the dumplings after frying. The cheese dumplings held together well and browned evenly. The dumplings that had sauce in the middle did not stay together in the pot. Save your sauce for serving!
I served my dumplings over a bed of sauce because that’s how I saw it on TV. Serving it this way makes it feel like an appetizer, although we ate them for dinner and were definitely satisfied.
This is one recipe that is sure to be repeated in this foodie kitchen.
What’s inspired you in your kitchen lately?
