Colțunași are Moldovan dumplings made from thin dough and boiled in salted water. The name is linked to colț, a corner, because they are half moons with a pointed edge. The filling can be cottage cheese, potato or, in summer, cherry. They are served hot, with sour cream and golden fried onion, and are one of the best-loved meatless and plainly homely dinners.

The dough for colțunași

The dough is made from flour, egg, warm water, salt and a little oil. It is best to pour the water in gradually: flour varies, and the right amount depends on it. The dough should come out firm but not hard, and come away from your hands easily.

Knead for about eight minutes until the surface is smooth. Cover the dough with film or a bowl and let it lie for half an hour. After resting the dough turns elastic, rolls out thin easily and does not tear.

The cottage cheese filling

For the cottage cheese filling take dry cottage cheese, preferably full-fat. If it is wet, hang it in cheesecloth for half an hour or press it through a sieve. Mix with an egg, a pinch of salt and chopped dill. The egg binds the filling and it does not leak out in the pot.

Add sugar to taste. In Moldova cottage cheese colțunași come both salted and sweet. If you serve them for dinner, leave the filling almost unsweetened, with dill. For dessert add a spoon of sugar and a little vanilla.

The potato filling

Peel the potatoes, boil them in salted water until soft and drain completely. Mash them while hot, without a blender: a blender turns the mash into a sticky mass. Add the fried onion with its oil and pepper.

Cool the filling until warm or cold. With a hot filling the dough does not seal and the steam wets the edges. A good potato filling is thick, rolls into a ball and does not run.

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Rolling and shaping

Roll the dough thin, about two millimetres, dusting the table with flour. Dough that is too thick turns tough after boiling. Cut circles with a glass or a cup and do not shape them yet, cover them with a towel so they do not dry out.

Put a spoon of filling in the middle of a circle. Do not put in too much, otherwise the edge will not seal. Fold the circle in half and press the edge firmly. You can pinch once more, folding over the corner. Your hands must be dry, and there must be no flour or filling on the edges.

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How to boil them

You need plenty of water: for fifty colțunași a large pot is enough. Salt the water and bring it to the boil. Drop the colțunași in batches of ten or fifteen and stir gently with a spoon at once so they do not stick to the bottom.

When they float, lower the heat and cook for four or five minutes. Do not let the water boil hard: a fierce boil tears the edges. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and put them straight into a bowl with oil or pour fried onion over them so they do not stick together.

Onion and sour cream

Fried onion is the other half of the dish. Chop it finely and fry on medium heat for fifteen minutes until golden. Pour the onion's oil over the colțunași. Serve the sour cream separately, in a bowl, and let everyone help themselves.

The cottage cheese ones are eaten both with sour cream and just with sugar. The potato ones are more often served with sour cream and hot pepper. On the table there are usually pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut as well.

Variations

Colțunași are also made with cherries: sprinkle pitted cherries with sugar, let them give juice, drain and put five or six berries in each. They also turn out well with cabbage, with mushrooms, with fried onion and potato. Small pelmeni are made from the same dough.

If you have boiled colțunași left, fry them the next day in a pan in oil until they have a golden crust. It is almost a new dish. Other Moldovan dishes of dough and cheese are in the article on plăcinte with cheese.

Storing them and saving money

Keep boiled colțunași in the fridge for two days, in a container, coated with oil. Reheat them in a pan, not in a microwave. Raw ones are better frozen: shape a lot at once and put them in the freezer on a board.

Colțunași need only flour, eggs, cottage cheese or potatoes and onion, so the dish is cheap and filling. To save, shape a double batch and freeze it: such a stock helps out on workdays.