Okay, okay….so maybe the title is misleading. I don’t know for a fact that Robert Plant has signed off on this exact recipe for the starchy Lithuanian national dish, but the name of these meat-and-potato dumplings does stem from their likeness in shape to the airships of yore. Try your hand at these hearty and filling Eastern European delicacies that will stick to your bones all winter long.

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:

6-7 lbs potatoes | 2 tsp salt | reserved starch water

Meat filling:

1 lb ground pork | 1 tsp salt | 1/2 tsp garlic powder | 2 Tbsp cold water

Topping:

9 oz bacon or pancetta (finely chopped) | 4-5 onions (finely chopped) | sour cream, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Peel all of the potatoes and set aside 5-6 lbs. Take 1 lb of potatoes and cut into quarters. Place quartered potatoes into large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until soft (8-12 minutes). Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.

2. Grate or purée the remaining raw potato, using the zesting side of a box grater or food processor. Make sure there are no remaining lumps! Pour grated potato onto a cheesecloth, and squeeze excess water out into a large bowl. Reserve this liquid for later. Place strained potato mixture into a large, dry bowl.

3. Use a potato ricer or masher to mash the cooked potatoes, making sure there are no lumps. Add the mashed potato to the bowl of grated raw potato.

4. Add the 2 tsp of salt to potato mixture and mix well with hands. Dough should form a smooth ball but not stick to hands, roughly the consistency of play dough. If mixture is too dry, add reserved starch water (1 Tbsp at a time). If too wet, add potato starch or cornflour (1 Tbsp at a time) to thicken.

5. In another bowl, add ground pork, salt, garlic powder, and water. Mix well with hands.

6. Divide both meat and potato mixtures into 8 parts. Take a portion of dough and flatten in the palm of your hand, until approximately 1/2 inch thick. Place one portion of meat into middle of dough and fold the dough over the top. Pinch the dough firmly to seal. Rotate the dumpling in your hand to form classic zeppelin shape. Use remaining starch water to smooth over any cracks in the dough. Continue this process for remaining 7 cepelinai.

7. Fill a large pot halfway with water and set heat to high. Bring to a boil. Mix two tablespoons of potato starch or cornflour to one cup cold water, and add to the boiling water making sure to stir while pouring. This will ensure the dumplings don’t split while cooking.

8. Gently add the dumplings into the boiling water. (The dumplings will sink first but eventually float to the surface.) and let the water come to a boil again. Then reduce heat to a VERY low simmer, and “simmer” dumplings for 45 minutes. Note: if the water boils too hard, the dumplings will split and crack.

9. While dumplings are cooking, add finely chopped bacon or pancetta to a frying pan and set heat to high. Once bacon begins to golden and crisp, add the chopped onion and reduce heat to medium. Cook until onions start to brown.

10. To serve, carefully lift a cepelinai out of the water using a slotted spoon and place on plate. Top with a spoon of bacon and onion mixture, and drizzle with sour cream. Enjoy!