Perohê de Batata e Queijo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Rolling pin
• •3-inch round cutter or drinking glass
• •Large 5-liter pot
• •Wide skillet
• •Slotted spoon
• •Potato masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Put the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and stir with your hand. Add the egg, warm water, and oil, then mix until shaggy pieces gather into a rough ball. Knead for 5 to 7 minutes, until the dough feels smooth and soft like an earlobe. If dry flour stays at the bottom, add warm water 1 tablespoon at a time. Warm water relaxes the flour so the dough rolls without fighting you.

   Don't make a stiff dough to feel in control. Stiff dough cracks when folded, then leaks in the pot, and suddenly you're making potato soup. Soft is the goal.
2. 2

   Rest the dough

   Cover the dough with an overturned bowl or a clean towel and let it rest for 30 minutes. It should feel calmer and easier to press after resting. This pause is not laziness, it's method: the flour hydrates and the dough stops snapping back when you roll it.

3. 3

   Cook the potatoes

   Put the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water by 2 fingers, and add a good pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until a fork slides through the center without resistance, about 15 minutes. Starting in cold water cooks the pieces evenly from edge to middle, instead of giving you mush outside and a hard little heart inside.

4. 4

   Build the onion base

   While the potatoes cook, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, golden at the edges, and sweet-smelling, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute, just long enough to smell it. This is the refogado thinking: onion first so it can murchar and sweeten, garlic last so it doesn't burn and turn bitter.

5. 5

   Mash the filling

   Drain the potatoes very well and return them to the hot empty pot for 1 minute, shaking the pot so extra moisture dries off. Mash until smooth, then mix in the cheeses, half the onion mixture, the black pepper, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Taste it. The filling should be a little more seasoned than mashed potatoes you'd eat alone, because the plain dough will soften the flavor.

6. 6

   Roll and cut

   Dust the counter lightly with flour and roll half the rested dough until thin but not transparent, about 2 mm thick. Cut rounds with a 3-inch glass or cutter. Keep the other half covered while you work so it doesn't dry out. Dry dough won't seal well, and perohê that won't seal is just dinner trying to escape.

7. 7

   Fill and seal

   Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each round. Fold the dough over into a half-moon, press the edges together firmly, then pinch again from one end to the other. The edge should feel sealed and slightly flattened, with no filling caught in the seam. Filling on the edge stops the dough from closing, and the boiling water will find that weak spot immediately.

8. 8

   Boil until floating

   Bring a large pot of salted water to a lively boil, then lower it just enough that the water moves without throwing the dumplings around. Drop in 10 to 12 perohê at a time and stir once so they don't stick to the bottom. Cook until they float, then give them 1 more minute. Floating tells you the dough has cooked and the filling is hot, but that extra minute finishes the edge where the dough is doubled.

9. 9

   Finish in butter

   Lift the perohê out with a slotted spoon and let the water drip off. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet with the reserved onion, then add the boiled dumplings in a single layer and turn them gently until glossy and lightly golden in spots. Don't crowd the skillet. Crowding traps water, the dumplings steam instead of dourar, and you lose the buttery edges you came for.

10. 10

    Serve the plate

    Serve with the remaining buttery onion over the top and parsley if you're using it. Put something green beside it, couve refogada, cabbage, or a sharp salad, so the plate feels complete and not sleepy. This is how a gente resolves dinner: starch, filling, green, and a table that knows somebody cooked.

Chef Tips

• •For the cheese, use what gives you salt and a little tang: farmer's cheese, dry ricotta, queijo minas padrão, meia-cura, or a mild parmesan. Watery ricotta makes loose filling, so drain it in a sieve first.
• •The honest Tuesday shortcut is making the filling one day ahead and resting the dough while the potatoes cook. The cost is planning, not flavor. The dishonest shortcut is powdered mashed potato, and no. That's not potato, that's an apology in flakes.
• •Freeze the dumplings raw on a floured tray until firm, then bag them. Boil from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes after they float. A freezer with perohê in it is a small act of household intelligence.
• •If one opens in the water, don't panic. Pull it out, lower the boil, and pinch the next batch harder. Cooking is learned by the batch, not by shame.
• •Serve these with couve refogada, cabbage with vinegar, or a salad with enough acid to cut the butter. Heavy with heavy gets boring fast.

Advance Preparation

• •The filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Cold filling is easier to spoon and seal.
• •The dough can rest at room temperature for up to 1 hour, well covered, or in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring it back toward room temperature before rolling.
• •Raw shaped perohê can be frozen for up to 2 months. Freeze in one layer first, then transfer to a bag so they don't glue themselves together.
• •Cooked perohê keep 3 days in the fridge. Reheat in a skillet with a little butter and onion, not in a microwave if you want the edges to stay good.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)