Quick-ish Ricotta Dumplings in Tomato Broth

A happy-making bowl of quick dumplings (made with potsticker wrappers!) filled with pesto-boosted ricotta cheese. Ladled with a simple five-minute tomato broth.

I posted a photo to Instagram over the weekend, and a number of you asked for the recipe. It was a bowl of ricotta dumplings in a simple tomato-shallot broth topped with a bit of arugula. I used potsticker wrappers for the dumplings (I keep a stack of them in my freezer). It's sort of cheating, but I'm cool with it, and they're delicious, so I don't feel bad about not making my own pasta. The filling is good ricotta cheese mixed with a dollop of pesto and some olive oil. Season with salt, done. You can see how the dumplings come together in the video below. They're actually quite quick to pull together, and they freeze incredibly well. Make some, and freeze some for mid-week dumpling nights!

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Quick-ish Ricotta Dumplings in Tomato Brodo

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Quick-ish Ricotta Dumplings in Tomato Broth

HS: I made this the other night with a boost of shallot oil* in the tomato brodo. It's delicious. That said, don't let lack of shallot oil deter you from these dumplings. If you have it, great, if not, just use extra-virgin olive oil. I'll put the recipe for shallot oil down below as well.

28 ounce can of whole or crushed tomatoes
40 potsticker dumpling wrappers
1 1/2 cups / 12 ounces ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons pesto
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the arugula
1/4+ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

for serving: arugula tossed with a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, and a pinch of salt

Place the tomatoes in a strainer, catch the tomato water that comes through the strainer in another bowl. You want to get as much as possible. Stir, smash, and stir some more. Let it drain while you're making the dumplings. You should be able to get 1-2 cups, and reserve the solids for another use.

Make the ricotta filling by combining the ricotta, pesto, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and salt in a bowl. Mix well, taste, and adjust, with more salt or pesto, if needed. It should taste great on its own.

Working quickly (you don't want the wrappers to dry out), arrange twenty of the dumpling wrappers on your countertop. Place a small dollop of the ricotta on each wrapper, just off center. Run a wet finger around the rim of each wrapper, press the edges together well, and try to avoid trapping air bubbles in the dumplings if you can. Pinch the edges together forming a "hug" shape (see photos or video). Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet until you're ready to cook the dumplings.

Get your tomato broth ready by combining 1 cup of the tomato water with 2 cups of water, scant 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil (alternately, you can use shallot oil* here), in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, taste, adjust, set aside.

Boil as many dumplings as you think you'll want in well-salted water (you can freeze any remaining), until they float plus another 20-30 seconds. Lift out with a strainer, gently shake off any residual water, and place in bowls. Ladle tomato broth over the dumplings, and top with arugula.

Serves 4-6.

Shallot oil & crispy shallots: Place 2 cups sunflower oil in a thick-bottomed saucepan, over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (a "test" shallot should bubble immediately), dial back the heat to medium, sprinkle in 2 cups thinly sliced shallots, and cook slowly until they are deeply golden, 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat, carefully strain the oil off into a jar, and set aside. Place the shallots on a paper towel and allow them to cool and crisp.

Prep time: 25 minutes

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Comments

We had this for dinner tonight, and it was easy and so tasty. I zested a bit of lemon into the filling, thinking back on some of your other recipes. Now there are several containers of dumplings in the freezer, just in time for our first snow.. Thank you for the simple, delicious recipe.

Erin

Do you think a mesclun mix (sans the arugula) would work? I just recently moved to New Zealand from Texas and am still getting a handle on what they do and don’t have at the grocery stores and veg shops. I can’t seem to find arugula anywhere!!

HS: Yes, absolutely! 🙂

Leah

These look amazing. Having dumplings in the freezer is one of my favorite things and these will be a nice change of pace.
Regarding defrosting dumpling wrappers, I always forget to take them out of the freezer, so I just put the package in a container of hot water, changing the water a couple of times as it cools down. If it’s a big stack they’ll still be frozen together in the middle but defrosted enough to peel them off one at a time and shape each one instead of laying all the wrappers out first.

Lila

I would love to make these this week! How do you defrost the dumpling wrappers? Would it be better for me to store them in shorter stacks (since I won’t use the whole thing in one go)?

Alexis

This looks delicious! How long do you boil the dumplings?

Carissa

These look amazing! Love to see you using an ingredient that might be tossed. What a great idea for a tomato broth.
Your golden potstickers continue to be one of my favorite recipes after all these years. These look just as good!

Tonya Q

Heidi, These look so delicious. But I was wondering if you’d mind sharing where you find your organic dumpling wrappers? I am having a hard time finding any that don’t have a rather long list of ingredients. Thanks!

HS: Hi Amelia – I buy these at the grocery store in Japan Town. I saw them this morning in the freezer section (they usually also have them in the refrigerated section near the other wrappers)…

amelia

Your food is just lovely: always vibrant, clever, and soulful. Can I ask if you have any suggestions for that leftover tomato pulp? 😉

HS: Thanks so much Natalie! You could stir in some sautéed shallots, garlic, and a bit of salt & lemon zest, and use it as a second dumpling filling? It’s also good, seasoned a bit with poached eggs on toast or rice.

Natalie

You are amazing. Everything you do is so beautiful, and so mouth-watering.

Laura Plumb

Wonderful idea! Coming soon at my house. What’s the best way to reheat cooked and frozen dumplings so they don’t fall apart?

HS: Hi Leslie – My take is…eat what you cook. And freeze any you don’t cook. Then you can boil straight from the freezer, or straight from the refrigerator 🙂

Leslie B.

I love the occasional pot sticker recipe you post. Got to admit though the best recipe I know of is one you never posted but one I’ve used (to great effect) consisting of an old recipe of yours posted years back. The filling consists of a bowl of your nice, thick leftover Pierce Street vegetarian chili which remains one of my favorite all time recipes. I’ve made these pot stickers using both the steam method and pan frying with a drizzle of sesame oil. Best thing evah!

HS: Hey Ray! Thanks for this. Are you telling me you used the chili recipe as a dumpling filling? My mind is a little blown! :)!

Ray Russ

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