Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Plantain Gnocchi/Koldunai Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

Main Dishes

So I finally got around to making plantain gnocchi again, but was so tired that I didn’t even make a sauce to go with them and just ended up topping them with some fresh tomatoes. They were still delicious though, mainly because they were stuffed with chunks of cheddar cheese! I actually overstuffed them (but really, can you ever have too much cheese?) and they ended up looking more like dumplings than gnocchi. So we had to call them koldunai, which is the Lithuanian word for dumplings.

The only trick with these little guys is that the amount of flour you’ll need to get the dough to the right consistency may vary. The first time I made them I used smaller plantains and needed less flour. But if you’ve made gnocchi before, you shouldn’t have any trouble, and they’re worth the extra effort!

Plantain Gnocchi/Koldunai Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 black-brown plantains, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 8-ounce block of sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small chunks
3 chopped tomatoes or several cups of your favorite salsa

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Boil the plantains for 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from the pan and mash thoroughly in a medium bowl.

After letting mashed plantains cool to room temperature for about 15 minutes, mix in the egg. Mix in salt and flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms (you may need to add a little more flour, depending on the size of your plantains, when I had 1 3/4 cups of mashed plantains I needed 2 1/2 cups of flour). The dough should not be too sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large square and then cut the square into 2×2-inch squares. Place a chunk of cheese into the middle of each square of dough and seal the cheese inside the dough. Makes about 40 gnocchi.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until they are tender and float to the top, about 3 to 5 minutes. Mix gnocchi with fresh tomatoes or your favorite salsa. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 435 calories, 4.2g fat, 3.4g fiber, 16.8g protein per serving
Cost: $1.09 per serving

Plantain Crusted Chicken

Nope, this isn’t a recipe for chicken parm, although that’s what you’d think if you just saw the picture, but it was inspired by this Italian favorite. My hubby loves my chicken parm and loudly proclaims to anyone that will listen that he can never order it in a...

Walnut Crusted Pineapple Chicken

The last part of our trip was spent on the Lithuanian coast in several resort towns by the Baltic Sea. We were there pretty early in the season so it was still a bit chilly at the beach and I just got my feet wet, although Apolinaras actually swam a couple of days! We...

Maple Pecan Salmon over Roasted Potato, Apple, and Bacon Hash

I don’t usually buy a lot of produce at Costco, since it’s tough for just the two of us to eat our way through their large packages of fruits and veggies before it all spoils (although I do regularly make an exception of their Brussels sprouts and berries because we...

Cumin Rubbed Salmon with a Fresh Corn and Red Pepper Sauce

Apolinaras kept popping his head in the kitchen last night while I was prepping dinner because he was so excited we were having salmon. Apparently he thought a little cheering from the sidelines would hurry things along because he kept doing little dances to amuse me....

Cheddar, Feta, and Pecorino Romano Mac & Cheese

First of all, thanks to everyone who entered my blogiversary giveaway. A few of you correctly guessed the very common ingredient I don’t like is....black pepper! In fact, when Apolinaras wants to make sure I don’t dig into his portion of mac & cheese, he’ll...

Chicken and Soba Romaine Salad with Thai Vinaigrette

If you happened to peek in my fridge last weekend, you would have known I was on a sugar high. Imagine tins of cupcakes and bowls of custard and ganache precariously balancing on trays of brownies, cheesecakes, and tarts. I've been hard at work creating recipes for...

Goat Cheese Pizza with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes

We rarely order pizza or make it at home, because I get free pizza at lunch meetings at least two times a week at work. This is a very common perk in science, and I’m sure I could find pizza to eat at seminars every day if I hunted around enough! But, I actually...

Bacon and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breasts over Sweet Potato Hash

I’m always on the hunt for new chicken recipes and often times will just write “chicken” on my blog recipe idea list as motivation to dream up something new! Stuffed chicken is one of our favorites, and I especially love using a little mascarpone cheese in the filling...